Ostrich  Egg-shell  Cups  of  Mesopotamia 

and  the  Ostrich  in  Ancient  and 

Modern  Times 


BY 

BERTHOLD  LAUFER 
Curator  ok  Anthropology 

9  Plates  and  10  Text-figures 


Anthropology 
Leaflet  23 


FIELD  MUSEUM  OF  NATURAL  HISTORY 

CHICAGO 

1926 


The  Anthropological  Leaflets  of  Field  Museum  are  designed  to 
give  brief,  non-technical  accounts  of  some  of  the  more  interesting 
beliefs,  habits  and  customs  of  the  races  whose  life  is  illustrated 
in  the  Museum's  exhibits. 

LIST  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY  LEAFLETS  ISSUED  TO  DATE 

1.  The  Chinese  Gateway $  .10 

2.  The  Philippine  Forge  Group 10 

3.  The  Japanese  Collections 25 

4.  New  Guinea  Masks 25 

5.  The  Thunder  Ceremony  of  the  Pawnee      .     .     .     .        .25 

6.  The  Sacrifice  to  the  Morning  Star  by  the 

Skidi  Pawnee 10 

7.  Purification  of  the  Sacred  Bundles,  a  Ceremony 

of  the  Pawnee 10 

8.  Annual  Ceremony  of  the  Pawnee  Medicine  Men      .        .10 

9.  The  Use  of  Sago  in  New  Guinea 10 

10.  Use  of  Human  Skulls  and  Bones  in  Tibet       ...        .10 

11.  The  Japanese  New  Year's  Festival,  Games 

and  Pastimes 25 

12.  Japanese  Costume 25 

13.  Gods  and  Heroes  of  Japan 25 

14.  Japanese  Temples  and  Houses 25 

15.  Use  of  Tobacco  among  North  American  Indians     .        .25 

16.  Use  of  Tobacco  in  Mexico  and  South  America    .     .        .25 

17.  Use  of  Tobacco  in  New  Guinea 10 

18.  Tobacco  and  Its  Use  in  Asia .        .25 

19.  Introduction  of  Tobacco  into  Europe 25 

20.  The  Japanese  Sword  and  Its  Decoration 25 

21.  Ivory  in  China 75 

22.  Insect  Musician  and  Cricket  Champions  of  China  (in  press) 

23.  Ostrich  Egg-shell  Cups  of  Mesopotamia  and  the 

Ostrich  in  Ancient  and  Modern  Times      ...         .50 

D.  C.  DA  VIES 

DIRECTOR 

FIELD  MUSEUM  OF  NATURAL  HISTORY 
CHICAGO,  U.  S.  A. 


LEAFLET  23. 


OSTRICH   EGG-SHELL  CUP  FROM  GRAVE  AT  KISH,    MESOPOTAMIA  (p.  2). 

ABOUT  3000  B.C.     IN  FIELD  MUSEUM. 

About  one-third  actual  size. 


Field  Museum  of  Natural  History 

DEPARTMENT  OP  ANTHROPOLOGY 
Chicago,  1926 

LsArurr  Nun  be*  23 


Ostrich  Egg-shell  Cups  of  Mesopotamia 

and  the  Ostrich  in  Ancient  and 

Modern  Times 


CONTENTS 

P*»e 

The  Ostrich  in  Mesopotamia 2 

The  Ostrich  in  Palestine,  Syria,  and  Arabia 9 

The  Ostrich  in  Ancient  Egypt 16 

The  Ostrich  in  the  Traditions  of  the  Ancients. ...  21 
The  Ostrich  in  the  Records  and  Monuments  of  the 

Chinese  29 

The  Ostrich  in  Africa 34 

The  Domestication  of  the  Ostrich 41 

The  Ostrich  in  America 47 

Bibliographical  References 51 


THE  OSTRICH  IN  MESOPOTAMIA 

In  his  "Report  on  the  Excavation  of  the  'A'  Ceme- 
tery at  Kish,  Mesopotamia"  published  by  Field  Museum 
(Memoirs,  Vol.  I,  No.  1),  Ernest  Mackay  writes 
as  follows:  "A  rare  object  found  in  grave  2  was 
a  cup  which  had  been  made  from  an  ostrich  shell 
by  cutting  about  one-third  of  the  top  of  the  shell  away 
and  roughly  smoothing  the  edge.  It  was  the  only  one 
of  its  kind  found  in  the  cemetery,  and  it  was  in  such  a 
very  bad  condition  with  so  many  pieces  missing  that 
it  could  neither  be  restored  nor  drawn.  The  remains 
of  a  similar  cup  were  found  in  one  of  the  chambers  of 
a  large  building  of  plano-convex  bricks,  about  a  mile 
from  the  'A'  cemetery,  which  appears  to  be  of  the 
same  date.  The  ostrich  is  still  found  in  the  Arabian 
desert,  and  was  doubtless  plentiful  in  early  times.  Its 
feathers  as  well  as  its  eggs  were  utilized  by  the 
ancients." 

In  the  course  of  further  excavations  on  the  ancient 
sites  of  Kish  great  quantities  of  fragments  of  ostrich 
egg-shell  were  brought  to  light  and,  together  with 
other  collections,  mainly  pottery,  stone,  and  metal, 
were  recently  received  in  the  Museum.  Having  read  in 
Chinese  records  of  ostrich  eggs  anciently  sent  as  gifts 
from  Persia  to  the  emperors  of  China  and  being  aware 
of  the  importance  of  this  subject  in  the  history  of 
ancient  trade,  I  took  especial  interest  in  these  egg- 
shell fragments  and  induced  T.  Ito,  a  Japanese  expert 
at  treating  and  repairing  antiquities,  to  restore  three 
of  these  cups  completely.  The  result  of  his  patient  and 
painstaking  labor  is  shown  in  Plates  I  and  II  illus- 
trating two  of  the  cups.  These  restorations  are  true 
and  perfect ;  that  is,  they  consist  of  some  eighty  shards 
each,  accurately  and  perfectly  joined,  without  the  use 
of  other  substances  or  recourse  to  filling-in.  Thanks  to 


Ostrich  Egg-shell  Cups  3 

the  admirable  skill  of  Mr.  Ito  we  now  have  these  beauti- 
ful cups  before  us,  exactly  in  the  shape,  as  they  were 
anciently  used  by  the  Sumerians.  These  cups,  almost 
porcelain-like  in  appearance,  have  the  distinction  of 
representing  the  oldest  bird-eggs  of  historical  times  in 
existence,  and  may  claim  an  age  of  at  least  five  thou- 
sand years.  Being  the  eggs  of  the  majestic  winged 
camel  of  the  desert,  the  largest  living  bird,  the  fleetest 
and  most  graceful  of  all  running  animals  that  "scorn- 
eth  the  horse  and  his  rider,"  they  are  the  only  eggs  of 
archaeological  and  historical  interest.  But  they  are 
more  than  mere  eggs;  they  are  ingeniously  shaped 
into  water-vessels  or  drinking  goblets  by  human  hand, 
a  small  portion  at  the  top  having  been  cut  off  and  the 
edge  smoothed.  They  were  closed  by  pottery  lids  over- 
laid with  bitumen,  one  of  the  oldest  pigments  used  by 
mankind.  They  are  thus  precious  remains  of  the  earli- 
est civilization  of  which  we  have  any  knowledge.  In 
Plate  III  single  fragments  of  egg-shell  are  shown,  as 
they  came  out  of  the  graves,  and  some  patched  together 
from  several  pieces.  These  are  decorated  with  banded 
zones  of  brown  color  brought  out  by  means  of  bitumen. 
The  shell  is  extremely  hard  and  on  an  average  2  mm 
thick. 

The  trade  in  ostrich  eggs  was  of  considerable 
extent  and  importance  in  the  ancient  world.  They 
have  been  discovered  in  prehistoric  tombs  of  Greece 
and  Italy,  in  Mycenae  (Fig.  3),  Etruria  (Fig.  9), 
Latium,  and  even  in  Spain,  in  the  Punic  tombs  of 
Carthage  as  well  as  in  prehistoric  Egypt.  We  find 
them  in  ancient  Persia  and  from  Persia  sent  as  tribute 
to  the  emperors  of  China.  The  Spartans  showed  the 
actual  egg  of  Leda  from  which  the  Dioscuri,  Castor 
and  Pollux,  were  said  to  have  issued;  there  is  no 
doubt  that  the  egg  of  an  ostrich  rendered  good  ser- 
vices for  this  pious  fraud.  In  1833,  Peter  Mundy,  an 
energetic  English  traveler,   saw  ostrich    (or,  as  he 


4  Field  Museum  of  Natural  History 

spells,  estridges)  eggs  hung  in  a  mosque  in  India.  In 
1771,  General  Sir  Eyre  Coote  found  the  cupola  of  a 
Mohammedan  tomb  fifty  miles  north-east  of  Palmyra 
adorned  with  ostrich  eggs,  and  at  present  also,  devout 
Moslems  of  the  Near  East  are  fond  of  honoring  the 
sepulchre  of  a  beloved  dead  with  such  an  egg  which  is 
suspended  from  a  tree  or  shrub  on  the  burial  place. 
Even  in  the  Christian  churches  of  the  Copts  they  are 
reserved  for  the  decoration  of  the  cords  from  which 
the  lamps  are  suspended. 

Pliny  writes  that  the  eggs  of  the  ostrich  were 
prized  on  account  of  their  large  size,  and  were  em- 
ployed as  vessels  for  certain  purposes.  The  eggs  were 
also  eaten  and  found  their  way  to  the  table  of  the 
Pharaohs.  The  Garamantes,  a  group  of  Berber  tribes 
in  the  oases  of  the  Sahara  south  of  Tripolis,  anciently 
had  a  reputation  for  being  fond  of  the  eggs.  Peter 
Mundy  (1634)  found  ostrich  eggs,  whose  acquaintance 
he  made  at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  "a  good  meate." 
The  egg  is  still  regarded  as  a  rare  delicacy  in  Africa. 
The  contents  of  one  egg  amounts  to  forty  fluid  ounces, 
and  in  taste  it  does  not  differ  from  a  hen's  egg.  An 
omelet  prepared  from  one  egg  is  sufficient  for  eight 
persons.  Cuvier,  the  French  naturalist,  remarks  that 
an  ostrich  egg  is  equal  to  twenty-four  to  twenty-eight 
fowl's  eggs,  and  that  he  had  frequently  eaten  of  them 
and  found  them  very  delicate. 

Arabic  poetry  is  full  of  praise  for  the  beauty  of 
ostrich  eggs,  and  the  delicate  complexion  of  a  lovely 
woman  is  compared  with  the  smooth  and  brilliant  sur- 
face of  an  ostrich  egg.  The  Koran,  in  extolling  the  bliss 
and  joys  of  Paradise,  speaks  of  "virgins  with  chaste 
glances  and  large,  black  eyes  which  resemble  the  hidden 
eggs  of  the  ostrich." 

The  thickness  of  the  egg-shell  in  the  African  spe- 
cies (Struthio  camelus)  varies  from  1.91  to  1.98  mm; 
the  length  of  the  eggs  from  140.01  to  156.75  mm,  the 


Ostrich  Eggs  5 

width  from  121.02  to  138  mm.  In  Struthio  molybdo- 
phanes  (so  called  from  the  leaden  color  of  its  naked 
parts)  of  the  Somali  country,  the  egg-shell  is  even 
2.02  mm  thick;  the  length  varies  from  145  to  159.95 
mm,  the  width  from  119.50  to  125.4  mm.  The  weight 
of  the  full  eggs  is  from  one  to  two  thousand  grams, 
that  of  the  empty  ones  varies  from  225  to  340  grams. 

The  eggs  of  birds  living  in  captivity  differ  con- 
siderably from  those  of  wild  birds,  both  in  size,  color- 
ation, and  structure.  The  former  are  frequently  larger 
and  more  oblong,  and  have  a  thin  shell ;  the  colors  are 
more  lively,  and  the  enamel  layer  is  flat,  sometimes 
entirely  obliterated. 

The  egg  of  a  domesticated  ostrich  from  a  Cali- 
fornian  farm,  163  mm  in  length,  is  shown  for  com- 
parison in  Plate  IV.  As  the  Californians  are  all 
descendants  of  birds  imported  from  South  Africa,  their 
eggs  exhibit  to  a  marked  degree  the  pitting  which  is 
characteristic  of  the  South  African  species  and  which 
is  associated  with  the  respiratory  pores  of  the  shell.  In 
the  egg-shell  of  the  North  African  bird,  according  to 
J.  E.  Duerden,  the  pores  are  so  small  and  open  so  close 
to  the  surface,  as  to  be  scarcely  visible  to  the  naked  eye, 
and  are  mostly  scattered  singly,  with  but  little  group- 
ing, hence  the  surface  appears  almost  uniformly 
smooth.  In  the  southern  egg,  the  shell  pores  are  larger, 
sunken  below  the  general  surface,  and  mostly  in  small 
groups,  varying  from  about  six  to  twelve  in  a  group. 
It  is  the  close  grouping  of  the  sunken  pores  which  give 
rise  to  the  pitted  surface.  In  both  types  the  outer 
enamel  layer  shows  differences  in  thickness,  and  with 
it  the  polished  character  of  the  surface.  All  the  eggs 
are  a  cream  or  yellow  color  when  freshly  laid,  but  fade 
considerably  on  exposure  and  harden  in  course  of  time. 

The  egg  of  the  North  African  bird  is  larger  than 
that  of  the  southern,  the  shell  is  almost  free  from  pores 
or  pittings,  and  presents  an  ivory-like  smooth  surface. 


6  Field  Museum  op  Natural  History 

The  northern  egg  is  usually  rounded  in  shape  and  less 
oval.  The  egg  of  the  southern  bird  is  deeply  pitted  all 
over  the  surface,  the  pits  often  larger  and  more  plenti- 
ful at  the  air-chamber  end,  hence  the  shell  does  not 
present  the  ivory  smoothness  of  the  northern  egg. 
According  to  J.  E.  Duerden,  who  has  devoted  a  special 
investigation  to  the  two  varieties,  no  mistake  is  pos- 
sible in  discriminating  the  one  type  from  the  other  in 
a  mixed  lot  of  eggs  from  northern  and  southern  birds. 

In  cases  where  the  North  African  hen  was  mated 
with  the  South  African  cock,  a  peculiar  feature  was 
noted,  namely,  that  the  egg-shells  of  this  cross-breed 
were  only  pitted  in  certain  patches,  while  other  patches 
were  quite  smooth. 

In  our  Mesopotamian  eggs  the  pores  are  exceed- 
ingly fine,  and  for  this  reason  it  may  be  concluded  that 
the  species  represented  by  them  is  identical  with,  or 
closely  allied  to  the  present  Syrian  and  North  African 
ostriches.  The  latter  extends  right  across  the  Sahara 
from  the  Sudan  and  Nigeria  to  Tunis  and  Algeria  and 
from  Senegal  eastwards.  The  egg  of  the  Syrian  spe- 
cies, if  a  distinct  species  it  is,  is  said  to  be  of  smaller 
size  and  higher  polish  than  the  North  African  one. 

In  ancient  Elam  rows  of  ostriches  are  found  de- 
picted on  early  pottery,  closely  resembling  the 
ostriches  on  the  pre-dynastic  pottery  of  ancient  Egypt. 

In  1849  Austen  H.  Layard  (Nineveh  and  Its  Re- 
mains) wrote,  "The  only  birds  represented  on  the 
Assyrian  monuments  hitherto  discovered  are  the  eagle 
or  vulture,  the  ostrich  and  the  partridge,  and  a  few 
smaller  birds  at  Khorsabad,  whose  forms  are  too  con- 
ventional to  permit  of  any  conjecture  as  to  their  spe- 
cies. The  ostrich  was  only  found  as  an  ornament  on 
the  robes  of  figures  in  the  most  ancient  edifice  at  Nim- 
rud.  As  it  is  accompanied  by  the  emblematical  flower, 
and  is  frequently  introduced  on  Babylonian  and  As- 
syrian cylinders,  we  may  infer  that  it  was  a  sacred 


LEAFLET  23. 


OSTRICH   EGG-SHELL  CUP  FROM  GRAVE  AT  KISH.    MESOPOTAMIA  (p.  2). 

ABOUT  3000  B.C.       IN  FIELD  MUSEUM. 

About  one-third  actual  size. 


The  Ostrich  in  Mesopotamia  7 

bird."  The  statement  that  the  ostrich  is  represented 
on  an  Assyrian  king's  robe  is  repeated  by  Perrot  and 
Chipiez,  Handcock,  and  Meissner;  but  this  bird,  in  my 


Fig.  i. 

Assur  Strangling  Two  Ostriches.   Engraved  on  an  Assyrian  Seal-cylinder. 

After  Dorow. 

opinion,  is  not  an  ostrich ;  it  has  a  short  neck,  and  its 
head  is  entirely  different  from  that  of  an  ostrich.  The 
fact,  however,  remains  that  the  latter  is  clearly  repre- 
sented on  seals  and  cylinders. 


Fig.  a. 

The  God  Marduk  Executing  an  Ostrich.   Engraved  on  an  Assyrian  Seal-cylinder. 

After  W.  Houghton. 

One  of  these  seals  is  shown  in  Fig.  1.  It  was  the 
seal  of  Urzana,  king  of  Musasir,  a  contemporary  of 
King  Sargon    (eighth  century  B.C.),  and  represents 


8  Field  Museum  of  Natural  History 

Assur,  king  of  the  great  Assyrian  gods,  with  four 
wings,  in  the  act  of  strangling  two  ostriches.  On  an- 
other seal  (Fig.  2)  the  god  Marduk  is  shown  in  the 
act  of  executing  vengeance  on  an  ostrich.  With  his  left 
hand  he  firmly  grasps  the  bird's  long  neck,  and  in  his 
right  he  holds  a  scimitar  which  will  apparently  be  used 
to  sever  the  bird's  head.  These  illustrations  appar- 
ently hint  at  a  ritual  act  and  seem  to  indicate  that  the 
ostrich  was  also  a  sacrificial  bird  and  that  its  flesh  was 
solemnly  offered  to  the  gods.  Perrot  and  Chipiez  (His- 
tory of  Art  in  Chaldea  and  Assyria,  II,  p.  153)  figure  a 
scene  from  a  chalcedony  cylinder  in  Paris,  which  rep- 
resents an  ostrich  about  to  attack  a  man  with  outspread 
wings  and  raised  left  foot;  the  man  tries  to  lure  the 
bird  with  a  fruit  which  he  holds  in  his  right  hand, 
while  behind  his  back  he  hides  a  deadly  scimitar  in  his 
left. 

In  the  language  of  the  Sumerians  the  ostrich  was 
known  under  the  names  gir-gid-da,  which  is  explained 
as  "the  long-legged  bird"  and  gam-gam,  which  means 
as  much  as  "benefactor"  or  "well  disposed."  The  latter 
name  was  borrowed  by  the  Assyrians  in  the  form  gam- 
gam-mu.  Other  Assyrian  designations  of  the  bird  are 
sha-ka-tuv  and  se-ip-a-rik,  the  latter  also  meaning 
"long-legged." 


THE  OSTRICH  IN  PALESTINE,  SYRIA, 
AND  ARABIA 

The  ostrich  was  well  known  to  the  Hebrews,  and 
as  attested  by  several  allusions  to  the  bird  in  the  Old 
Testament,  must  in  ancient  times  have  been  frequent 
in  Palestine.  It  is  included  among  unclean  birds  in  the 
Mosaic  code  (Leviticus  XI,  16;  Deuteronomy  xiv,  15), 
and  its  flesh  was  prohibited.  This  may  hint  at  the  fact 
that  the  ostrich  had  occasionally  served  as  food  to  the 
Hebrews,  although  we  have  no  positive  information 
on  this  point.  The  reason  for  the  interdiction  is  not 
revealed.  The  ancient  apostolic  fathers  explain  that  it 
was  forbidden,  because  the  ostrich  cannot  rise  from 
the  earth ;  modern  commentators,  because  it  is  a  vora- 
cious animal  and  hunting  it  is  cruel.  Those  who  assert 
that  it  was  abhorred  as  an  exotic  animal  in  Palestine 
err  in  a  point  of  zoogeography.  The  simplest  interpre- 
tation seems  to  be  that,  like  other  unclean  animals  of 
the  Mosaic  legislation,  it  was  tabooed  by  Moses,  because 
the  surrounding  pagan  nations  availed  themselves  of 
its  flesh  both  as  a  sacrifice  to  their  gods  (see  above, 
p.  8)  and  for  their  own  use.  The  Arabs  of  ancient  and 
modern  times  feast  on  the  bird,  and  as  related  by  Leo 
Africanus  of  the  sixteenth  century,  its  flesh  was  con- 
sumed to  a  large  extent  in  Numidia,  where  young  birds 
were  captured  and  fattened  for  this  purpose.  There  are 
other  tribes  like  the  Shilluks  of  the  Sudan  who  for 
superstitious  reasons  abstain  from  ostrich  flesh.  Those 
who  have  tasted  it  state  unanimously  that  it  is  both 
wholesome  and  palatable,  although  in  the  wild  bird,  as 
might  be  expected,  it  is  somewhat  lean  and  tough.  The 
meat  of  domesticated  birds,  however,  especially  those 
fed  on  alfalfa  and  grain,  becomes  juicy  and  tender. 
Dr.  Duncan  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture  recom- 
mends it  as  a  New  Year  or  Easter  bird. 


10  Field  Museum  of  Natural  History 

Job  (xxx,  29)  laments,  "A  brother  I  have  become 
to  the  jackals,  and  a  companion  to  the  young  ostriches." 
And  the  prophet  Micah  (I,  8)  exclaims  in  a  similar 
vein,  "Like  jackals  will  I  mourn,  like  ostriches  make 
lamentation."  The  comparison  alludes  to  the  plaintive 
voices  of  these  animals.  The  jackal  and  ostrich  are 
again  combined  in  a  passage  of  Isaiah  (xxxiv,  13)  : 
"And  it  shall  be  an  habitation  of  jackals,  and  a  court 
for  ostriches."  The  cry  of  the  ostrich  has  been  de- 
scribed variously  by  observers:  some  define  it  as  a 
loud,  mournful  kind  of  bellowing  roar,  very  like  that 
of  a  lion ;  others  define  the  common  sounds  of  the  cock 
as  a  dull  lowing  which  consists  of  two  shorter  tones 
followed  by  a  longer  note ;  in  a  state  of  excitement  he 
will  give  a  hissing  sound,  and  his  warning  cry  is  an 
abrupt,  shrill  note.  The  Hebrew  word  renanim  used 
for  the  female  ostrich  means  literally  "cries,  calls," 
and  refers  to  the  twanging  cry  of  the  female.  Another 
designation  of  the  ostrich,  bath  haya'anah,  signifies  lite- 
rally "daughter  of  the  desert" ;  that  is  to  say,  a  desert- 
dweller,  a  very  appropriate  name  for  the  bird.  A  paral- 
lel term  occurs  in  Arabic  with  the  meaning  "father  of 
the  desert."  Isaiah  (xm,  21),  in  his  prediction  of  the 
fate  of  Babylon,  says,  "But  wild  beasts  of  the  desert 
shall  lie  there ;  and  their  houses  shall  be  full  of  doleful 
creatures;  and  ostriches  shall  dwell  there,  and  satyrs 
shall  dance  there." 

The  famous  passage  in  Job  (xxxix,  13-18)  is  thus 
rendered  in  the  Revised  Version:  "The  wing  of  the 
ostrich  rejoiceth;  but  are  her  pinions  and  feathers 
kindly  (or,  as  the  stork's)  ?  which  leaveth  her  eggs  in 
the  earth,  and  warmeth  them  in  dust,  and  forgetteth 
that  the  foot  may  crush  them,  or  that  the  wild  beast 
may  break  them.  She  is  hardened  against  her  young 
ones,  as  though  they  were  not  hers:  her  labour  is  in 
vain  without  fear;  because  God  hath  deprived  her  of 
wisdom,  neither  hath  He  imparted  to  her  understand- 


The  Ostrich  in  Palestine  11 

ing.  What  time  she  lifteth  up  herself  on  high,  she 
scorneth  the  horse  and  his  rider." 

The  text  is  difficult,  especially  in  the  opening  para- 
graph, and  various  translations  have  been  proposed, 
thus,  for  instance :  "The  wing  of  the  ostriches  is  raised 
joyfully;  but  is  it  a  pinion  and  feather  as  kindly  as 
that  of  the  stork?  No,  the  ostrich  hen  leaves  her  eggs 
to  the  earth,"  etc. 

Professor  J.  M.  Powis  Smith  of  the  University  of 
Chicago  has  been  good  enough  to  communicate  to  me 
his  own  translation  prepared  for  his  coming  version 
of  the  Old  Testament.    It  runs  thus : 

Is  the  wing  of  the  ostrich  joyful, 

Or  has  she  a  kindly  pinion  and  feathers, 

That  she  leaves  her  eggs  on  the  ground, 

And  warms  them  on  the  dust, 

And  forgets  that  the  foot  may  crush  them, 

Or  the  beast  of  the  field  trample  them  ? 

She  is  hard  to  her  young,  as  though  not  her  own; 

For  nothing  is  her  labour;  she  has  no  anxiety. 

For  God  has  made  her  oblivious  of  wisdom, 

And  has  not  given  her  a  share  in  understanding. 

When  she  flaps  her  wings  aloft, 

She  laughs  at  the  horse  and  his  rider. 

According  to  those  scholars  who  translate  the 
word  chasidah  by  "stork,"  the  Hebrew  poet  contrasts 
the  ostrich  with  the  stork.  The  stork,  as  indicated  by 
its  name  chasidah  ("the  pious  one") ,  was  the  symbol  of 
kindness  and  piety,  and  was  regarded  as  a  model  of 
filial  love ;  for  this  reason  it  is  venerated  by  all  Oriental 
peoples.  The  ostrich  may  resemble  the  stork  in  some 
respects,  but  differs  from  it  in  the  care  for  its  young. 
The  description  that  follows  is  based  on  the  widely 
spread,  but  erroneous  assumption  that  the  ostrich  is 
in  the  habit  of  leaving  its  eggs  in  the  sand  to  be  hatched 
by  the  sun.  The  Hebrew  poet  is  intent  on  making  the 
point  that  in  spite  of  the  careless  treatment  of  the  eggs 
the  bird  is  propagated  as  a  striking  evidence  of  God's 
constant  solicitude  for  his  creatures.  To  make  amends 


12  Field  Museum  op  Natural  History 

for  the  lack  of  wisdom,  fleetness  of  foot  has  been 
granted  the  ostrich.  In  case  its  life  is  endangered,  it 
leashes  the  air  with  its  wings  which  assist  in  running, 
and  derides  horse  and  rider  who  are  in  pursuit  of  it, — 
a  sign  that  the  ostrich,  after  all,  is  not  so  stupid. 

The  alleged  cruelty  of  the  ostrich  to  its  young  is 
also  referred  to  in  the  passage,  "Even  the  sea  monsters 
draw  out  the  breast,  they  give  suck  to  their  young  ones : 
the  daughter  of  my  people  is  become  cruel,  like  the 
ostriches  in  the  wilderness"  (Lamentations  rv,  3) . 

The  observation  made  in  the  book  of  Job  that  the 
ostrich  treats  her  offspring  harshly  does  not  conform 
with  the  real  facts.  The  birds,  on  the  contrary,  are 
tender  parents  and  feed  and  watch  their  young  ones 
very  carefully.  The  eggs  are  laid  in  a  shallow  pit  or 
depression  of  the  soil  scraped  out  by  the  feet  of  the 
old  birds  with  the  earth  heaped  around  to  form  a  wall 
or  rampart.  The  female  incubates  the  eggs  during  the 
day,  while  the  male  takes  her  place  at  night.  As  eggs 
are  sometimes  dropped  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  nest 
or  scattered  around,  the  popular  belief  in  the  careless- 
ness of  the  birds  and  in  the  hatching  of  the  eggs  by 
the  heat  of  the  sun  may  have  arisen.  Any  eggs  not 
hatched  are  broken  by  the  parents  and  fed  to  the  young 
for  whom  they  display  great  solicitude,  and  whom  they 
defend  in  case  of  danger. 

As  to  Palestine,  the  ostrich  still  occurs  in  the 
farther  parts  of  the  Belka,  the  eastern  plains  of  Moab, 
and  is  still  obtained  near  Damascus.  It  is  no  doubt 
now  but  a  straggler  from  central  Arabia,  though 
formerly  far  more  abundant  (Tristram,  Fauna  and 
Flora  of  Palestine) .  The  portion  of  the  Syrian  desert 
lying  east  of  Damascus  denotes  the  northernmost  limit 
of  the  range  of  the  ostrich.  According  to  Burckhardt, 
it  inhabits  the  great  Syrian  Desert,  some  being  found 
in  Hauran,  and  a  few  being  taken  almost  every  year, 
even  within  two  days'  journey  from  Damascus. 


The  Ostrich  in  Palestine  and  Syria  18 

As  regards  ancient  Syria,  the  ostrich  is  attested 
by  relief -pictures  in  the  theatre  at  Hierapolis  of  Roman 
times,  one  of  these  depicting  a  lioness  seizing  an  ostrich 
by  the  neck,  and  by  its  introduction  into  the  Syriac 
version  of  the  Physiologus. 

In  the  Physiologus,  a  Greek  allegorical  natural 
history,  which  originated  at  Alexandria  in  the  second 
century  of  our  era,  the  following  story  is  told:  "The 
ostrich  looks  up  to  heaven  in  order  to  see  when  her 
time  has  come  to  lay  her  eggs.  She  does  not  lay  before 
the  Pleiades  rise,  at  the  time  of  the  greatest  heat.  She 
lays  her  eggs  in  the  sand  and  covers  them  with  sand ; 
thereupon  she  goes  away  and  forgets  them,  and  the 
heat  of  the  sun  hatches  them  in  the  sand.  Since  the 
ostrich  knows  her  time,  man  ought  to  know  his  to  a 
still  higher  degree :  we  have  to  look  up  toward  heaven, 
forget  worldly  existence,  and  follow  Christ." 

This  story  has  doubtless  been  formed  by  com- 
bining Job  xxxix,  14,  with  Jeremiah  vm,  7  ("the  stork 
in  the  heaven  knoweth  her  appointed  time").  From 
the  Hebrew  name  of  the  stork,  chasidah,  the  Greek 
text  of  the  Physiologus  has  derived  the  word  asida  in 
the  sense  of  ostrich.  In  mediaeval  Europe  the  notion 
still  prevailed  that  the  ostrich  hatches  her  eggs  merely 
by  glancing  at  them  or  by  the  steadfast  gaze  of  mater- 
nal affection.  In  consequence  of  this  imaginary  exploit 
the  bird  was  chosen  as  an  emblem  of  faith. 

The  great  outlets  from  Syria  for  the  ostrich  plumes 
are  Aleppo,  Damascus,  and  Smyrna,  where  the  bazars 
always  contain  a  good  supply. 

The  Janizaries  of  Turkey  who  had  excelled  in 
battle  had  the  privilege  of  adorning  their  turbans  with 
an  ostrich  feather.  At  the  time  of  the  Ottoman  empire 
there  was  an  imperial  ostrich-park  in  Beylerbey  Serai 
on  the  Bosporus. 

From  times  immemorial  the  ostrich  has  been  an 
inhabitant  of  Arabia.   Heraclides  and  Xenophon,  sub- 


14  Field  Museum  op  Natural  History 

sequently  Agatharchides  and  Diodorus  mention  it  as 
a  native  of  the  peninsula.  The  valuable  white  plumes 
of  the  wings  and  tail  are  in  great  demand  among  the 
Arabs  for  their  own  wants  in  the  decoration  of  tents 
and  spears  of  the  sheikhs.  Ostrich  hunting  is  alluded 
to  in  early  Arabic  poetry,  and  has  always  been  a  popu- 
lar sport  with  the  Arabs,  who  rely  on  the  speed  of  their 
horses  and  run  the  birds  down.  As  these  are  in  the 
habit  of  circling  their  favorite  haunts,  the  horsemen 
hunt  in  relays,  and  are  apt  to  overtake  the  birds  by 
pursuing  in  a  straight  line. 

Kazwini  (1203-83),  the  Arabic  author  of  a  Cos- 
mography in  which  a  section  is  devoted  to  animals,  tells 
this  story :  "When  the  ostrich  has  laid  her  eggs,  twenty 
in  number  or  more,  she  buries  them  under  the  sand, 
leaving  one  third  in  one  place,  exposing  another  third 
to  the  sun,  and  hatching  another  third.  When  the 
chicks  have  come  out,  she  breaks  the  hidden  eggs  and 
feeds  her  young  with  them.  And  when  the  chicks  have 
grown  strong,  she  breaks  the  last  third  on  which  vermin 
will  collect,  and  this  serves  as  food  for  the  young  until 
they  are  able  to  graze."  There  is  a  germ  of  truth  under- 
lying this  story,  and  this  is  that  the  old  birds  feed  their 
young  on  the  contents  of  eggs  which  they  trample  down 
for  them.  When  the  eggs  are  left  during  the  heat  of 
the  day,  they  are  covered  up  with  sand,  and  the  occa- 
sional finding  of  such  eggs  may  have  given  rise  to 
Kazwini's  story.  He  relates  another  anecdote  to  the 
effect  that  the  ostrich,  when  it  has  withdrawn  from  its 
own  eggs  and  spies  other  birds'  eggs,  will  hatch  the 
latter  and  desert  its  own. 

There  is  a  Moslem  legend  in  explanation  of  the 
bird's  inability  to  fly.  "Once  upon  a  time  the  ostrich 
was  winged,  and  like  other  birds,  was  capable  of  flight. 
He  once  laid  a  wager  with  the  bustard,  but  relying  on 
his  strength  he  forgot  before  rising  to  invoke  Allah's 
assistance.   He  flew  in  the  direction  of  the  sun  which 


The  Ostrich  in  Arabia 


15 


scorched  his  pinions,  so  that  he  pitifully  plunged  down 
to  earth.  His  progeny  has  since  suffered  from  the 
curse  which  befell  its  ancestor,  and  restlessly  roves 
about  in  the  desert." 

The  Arabs  have  many  names  for  the  ostrich  like 
camel-bird,  father  of  the  desert,  the  magician,  the 
strong  one,  the  fugitive  one,  the  stupid  one,  and  the 
gray  one  (for  a  young  bird).  Ostrich  fat  is  regarded 
as  a  powerful  remedy  for  both  external  and  internal 
use. 


Fie.  3. 

Engraving  on  an  Ostrich  Egg  from  Mycenae,  Greece. 

After  Perrot  and  Chipie*. 


THE  OSTRICH  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 

The  ancient  Eygptians  received  the  ostrich  and  its 
products  from  Nubia,  Ethiopia,  and  the  country  Punt 
on  the  east  coast  of  Africa.  An  expedition  to  Punt, 
probably  of  a  peaceful  nature,  is  recorded  on  the  wall 
connecting  the  two  Karnak  pylons  of  King  Harmhab 
of  the  nineteenth  dynasty.  A  relief  shows  the  king  at 
the  right,  holding  audience,  receiving  the  chiefs  of 
Punt  approaching  from  the  left,  bearing  sacks  of  gold 
dust,  ostrich  feathers,  etc.  (Breasted,  Ancient  Records 
of  Egypt,  III,  37). 

In  the  rock  temple  of  Abu  Simbel  are  represented 
scenes  depicting  a  war  of  Ramses  II  against  the  Li- 
byans and  the  Nubian  war.  In  one  of  these  scenes 
Ramses  sits  enthroned  on  the  right  side;  approaching 
from  the  left  are  two  long  lines  of  Negroes,  bringing 
furniture  of  ebony  and  ivory,  panther  hides,  gold  in 
large  rings,  bows,  myrrh,  shields,  elephants'  tusks,  bil- 
lets of  ebony,  ostrich  feathers,  ostrich  eggs,  live  ani- 
mals, including  monkeys,  panthers,  a  giraffe,  ibexes,  a 
dog,  oxen  with  carved  horns,  and  an  ostrich  (Breasted, 
op.  cit.,  Ill,  475). 

Fig.  4  illustrates  a  very  instructive  Egyptian 
scene.  The  man  on  the  left  leads  a  captured  ostrich, 
grasping  its  neck  with  his  right  hand,  while  his  left 
holds  a  rope  slung  around  the  bird's  neck ;  this  double 
precaution  hints  well  at  the  strength  of  the  powerful 
avian  giant.  The  man  on  the  right  carries  three  ostrich 
feathers  and  a  basket  filled  with  three  ostrich  eggs. 
The  ostrich  was  sometimes  used  as  a  riding-beast,  as 
may  be  seen  from  the  scene  in  Fig.  5.  Oppianus  re- 
marks that  it  can  easily  carry  a  boy  on  its  back. 
Heuglin  says  that  the  possibility  of  riding  the  ostrich 
has  often  been  doubted,  but  he  assures  us  that  the  ani- 
mal is  able  to  carry  a  heavy  man,  but  not  for  a  long 

16 


The  Ostrich  in  Ancient  Egypt 


17 


time,  and  after  a  brief  run  will  throw  itself  on  the 
ground.  A  prehistoric  serpentine  figure  of  a  seated 
ostrich  is  illustrated  by  Flinders  Petrie  (Amulets, 
No.  246). 

Ostrich  eggs  showing  traces  of  painting  and  en- 
graving have  been  found  in  prehistoric  tombs  of  Egypt, 
and  are  figured  by  Jean  Capart  (Primitive  Art  in 
Egypt,  p.  40).  They  were  also  imitated  in  clay  and 
decorated  with  black  zigzag  lines  in  imitation  of  cords 
or  simply  painted  with  white  spots.  In  the  Egyptian 
department  of  the  British  Museum  is  shown  an  enor- 


Fig.  4. 

Egyptian  Scene  Showing  a  Captured  Ostrich  and  Man  with  Ostrich  Feathers  and  Eggs. 

After  O.  Keller. 

mous  marble  egg  which  is  apparently  intended  for  an 
enlarged  ostrich  egg,  and  which  was  once  deposited  in 
a  sacred  place.  During  the  historic  period,  ostrich  eggs 
and  feathers  were  imported  from  the  land  of  Punt  and 
probably  also  from  Asia. 

Imitations  of  ostrich  eggs  in  terracotta  have  been 
found  in  the  tombs  of  Vulci  in  Italy,  which,  according 
to  G.  Dennis  (Cities  and  Cemeteries  of  Etruria) ,  seems 
to  indicate  that  the  demand  was  greater  than  the 
supply. 


18 


Field  Museum  op  Natural  History 


EGG  OF  DOMESTICATED  OSTRICH    FROM  OSTRICH  FARM  IN  CALIFORNIA  (p.  5). 
IN  FIELD  MUSEUM. 
About  two-thirds  actual  size. 


The  Ostrich  in  Ancient  Egypt  19 

Flinders  Petrie  (Naukratis,  part  1,  p.  14)  recov- 
ered from  the  temple  of  Apollo  at  Naukratis  a  piece  of 
an  ostrich  egg-shell  with  a  pattern  of  wreath  etched 
out  of  the  inside,  and  the  upper  part  stained  red ;  the 
etching  was  probably  done  by  drawing  the  wreath  with 
wax  on  the  shell  and  then  eating  out  the  background 
with  vinegar;  and  the  higher  surface  of  the  wreath 
was  polished,  like  the  rest  of  the  inside,  before  etching. 

Ostrich  feathers  were  worn  by  men  in  ancient 
Egypt,  being  stuck  in  their  hair,  and  a  religious  sig- 
nificance was  possibly  connected  with  this  custom. 
Such  feathers  are  invariably  found  in  the  hair  of 
lightly-equipped  soldiers  of  ancient  times,  and  there  is 
a  hieroglyph  showing  a  warrior  thus  adorned.  An  os- 
trich plume  symbolized  truth  and  justice,  and  was  the 
emblem  of  the  goddess  Ma'at  who  personified  these  vir- 
tues, and  who  was  the  patron-saint  of  the  judges.  Her 
head  is  adorned  with  an  ostrich  feather,  her  eyes  are 
closed,  similarly  as  Justice  is  blindfolded.  The  image 
of  this  goddess  was  the  most  precious  offering  for  the 
gods,  and  was  attached  to  the  necklace  of  the  chief 
judge  as  a  badge  of  office. 

Subsequently  when  the  insignia  of  the  various 
ranks  in  the  court  ceremonial  were  regulated,  the  os- 
trich feather  became  the  exclusive  prerogative  of  the 
kings,  and  these  and  the  princes  of  royal  blood  exclu- 
sively were  permitted  to  wear  it.  Those  decorated  with 
the  ostrich  feather  are  designated  as  "fan-carriers  on 
the  left  of  the  king"  in  the  inscriptions  of  the  monu- 
ments. 

The  princesses  had  fans  made  from  ostrich 
feathers.  In  the  tomb  of  the  queen  Aa  Hotep,  mother 
of  Amasis  I  (about  1703  B.C.)  was  discovered  a  semi- 
circular fan  decorated  all  over  with  gold  plates  and 
provided  along  its  edge  with  perforations  for  receiv- 
ing the  feathers.  When  the  Pharaoh  showed  himself  to 
the  people,  high  dignitaries  carried  ostrich-feather  fans 


20  Field  Museum  of  Natural  History 

attached  to  long  poles  alongside  the  royal  palanquin. 

Among  the  amulets  of  power  conferred  upon  the 
dead  were  two  ostrich  plumes  supposed  to  fly  away  in 
the  wind,  bearing  the  king's  soul,  and  the  pair  of  plumes 
therefore  were  provided  as  a  vehicle  for  the  soul  of  the 
deceased  (Flinders  Petrie,  Amulets). 

The  British  Museum  has  a  terracotta  from  Nau- 
cratis  representing  a  goddess  on  horseback  with  a  lyre, 
wearing  a  head-dress  surmounted  by  the  solar  disk, 
horns,  and  ostrich  feathers  (Walters,  Cat.  of  the  Terra- 
cottas in  the  British  Museum,  p.  256,  with  illustration) . 

In  the  eighteenth  and  first  part  of  the  nineteenth 
century  the  ostrich  still  lived  in  the  plains  of  northern 
Egypt  and  along  the  Arabic  coast  of  the  Red  Sea 
(Heuglin).  Near  the  oases  of  middle  Egypt  it  still 
occurs  at  present,  likewise  along  the  south-eastern 
frontier  of  the  country. 


THE  OSTRICH  IN  THE  TRADITIONS  OF 
THE  ANCIENTS 

The  ancients  knew  the  bird  as  an  inhabitant  of 
northern  Africa,  upper  Egypt,  and  Arabia. 

The  first  Greek  author  who  mentions  the  ostrich  is 
Herodotus  (iv,  175,  192).  With  reference  to  the  Macse 
who  inhabited  the  coast  of  Libya,  he  states  that  they 
wore  the  skins  of  ostriches  as  a  protection  in  war.  He 
terms  the  ostrich  "the  bird  remaining  on  the  ground." 

The  skin  of  the  ostrich  is  very  thick,  and  still 
serves  as  a  cuirass  to  Arabic  tribes.  Pierre  Belon,  a 
famous  French  naturalist  of  the  sixteenth  century, 
saw  large  numbers  of  ostrich  skins  with  the  feathers 
on  in  the  shops  of  Alexandria,  where  they  had  arrived 
from  Ethiopia.  In  northern  Africa  an  ostrich  skin  is 
valued  at  about  $75. 

Xenophon  (Anabasis  I,  5),  when  he  accompanied 
the  army  of  Cyrus  through  the  desert  along  the  Eu- 
phrates, in  northern  Arabia,  noticed  numerous  wild 
asses  and  many  ostriches  which  he  calls  "large  spar- 
rows," as  well  as  bustards  and  antelopes;  and  these 
animals  were  sometimes  hunted  by  the  horsemen  of  the 
army.  While  they  succeeded  in  catching  some  asses, 
no  one  succeeded  in  capturing  an  ostrich.  The  horse- 
men who  hunted  that  bird  soon  desisted  from  the  pur- 
suit ;  for  it  far  outstripped  them  in  its  flight,  using  its 
feet  for  running  and  raising  its  wings  like  a  sail.  This 
description  is  quite  to  the  point.  Macaulay  said  of  John 
Dryden,  "His  imagination  resembled  the  wings  of  an 
ostrich.  It  enabled  him  to  run,  though  not  to  soar." 
The  wings  serve  the  ostrich,  while  running,  as  poy  and 
rudder,  and  it  has  been  observed  that  with  favorable 
wind  they  are  even  used  as  sails.  Xenophon  confirms 
the  fact  that  in  ancient  times  the  ostrich  ranged  right 
up  to  the  Euphrates.   The  last  record  of  ostriches  in 

21 


22  Field  Museum  op  Natural  History 

the  region  of  this  river  was  in  1797  when  Oliver  men- 
tioned them  in  the  desert  west  of  Rehaba,  about  twenty- 
three  miles  due  south  of  Deir-ez-Zor. 

Strabo  (xvi,  4, 11) ,  the  Greek  geographer  (63  B.C.- 
A.D.  19) ,  speaks  of  a  tribe  of  Elephant-eaters  near  the 
city  Darada  in  Ethiopia.  Above  this  nation,  he  con- 
tinues, is  a  small  tribe,  the  Struthophagi  ("Bird- 
eaters"),  in  whose  territory  there  are  birds  of  the  size 
of  a  deer,  which  are  unable  to  fly,  but  run  with  the 
swiftness  of  an  ostrich.  Some  of  the  people  hunt  these 
birds  with  bows  and  arrows,  others  by  putting  on  the 
skins  of  the  birds.  They  hide  their  right  arm  in  the 
neck  of  the  skin  and  move  the  neck  as  the  birds  use 
to  do.  With  their  left  hand  they  scatter  grain  from  a 
bag  suspended  to  the  side.  They  thus  lure  the  birds, 
driving  them  into  ravines  where  they  are  slain  with 
cudgels.  Their  skins  are  used  both  as  clothes  and  as 
coverings  for  beds. 

This  method  of  hunting  by  means  of  a  decoy-bird 
is  perfectly  credible  and  universally  employed.  In 
South  Africa  the  native  hunters  hide  in  a  hole  which 
they  dig  close  to  the  nest  of  the  birds.  Having  accounted 
for  one  bird,  they  stick  up  its  skin  on  a  pole  near  the 
nest,  and  in  this  way  decoy  another  ostrich.  Other 
tribesmen  who  keep  tame  ostriches  avail  themselves  of 
the  latter  to  approach  wild  ones  and  shoot  them  with 
poisoned  arrows. 

George  W.  Stow  (Native  Races  of  South  Africa) 
gives  the  following  graphic  account  of  the  Bushmen's 
method  of  hunting  (compare  Plate  V) :  "In  stalking 
the  quagga  (Equus  quagga),  the  Bushmen  generally 
disguised  themselves  in  skins  of  the  ostrich,  with  a 
long  pliant  stick  run  through  the  neck  to  keep  the  head 
erect,  and  which  also  enabled  them  to  give  it  its  natural 
movement  as  they  walked  along.  Most  of  them  were 
very  expert  in  imitating  the  actions  of  the  living  bird. 
When  they  sighted  a  herd  of  quaggas  which  they 


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Greek  Writers  on  the  Ostrich  23 

wished  to  attack,  they  did  not  move  directly  toward 
them,  but  leisurely  made  a  circuit  about  them,  gradu- 
ally approaching  nearer  and  nearer.  While  doing  so, 
the  mock-bird  would  appear  to  feed  and  pick  at  the 
various  bushes  as  it  went  along,  or  rub  its  head  ever 
and  anon  upon  its  feathers,  now  standing  to  gaze,  now 
moving  stealthily  toward  the  game,  until  at  length  the 
apparently  friendly  ostrich  appeared,  as  was  its  wont 
in  its  natural  state,  to  be  feeding  among  them.  Singling 
out  his  victim,  the  hunter  let  fly  his  fatal  shaft,  and 
immediately  continued  feeding;  the  wounded  animal 
sprang  forward  for  a  short  distance,  the  others  made 
a  few  startled  paces,  but  seeing  nothing  to  alarm  them, 
and  only  the  apparently  friendly  ostrich  quietly  feed- 
ing, they  also  resumed  their  tranquillity,  thus  enabling 
the  dexterous  huntsman  to  mark  a  second  head,  if  he 
felt  so  inclined.  But  as  these  primitive  hunters  never 
wantonly  slaughtered  for  the  mere  sake  of  killing  the 
game,  like  those  who  boast  a  higher  degree  of  civiliza- 
tion, they  generally  rested  satisfied  with  securing  such 
a  sufficiency  as  would  afford  a  grand  feast  for  them- 
selves and  their  families,  quite  content  with  knowing 
that  as  long  as  the  supply  lasted,  their  feasting,  danc- 
ing, and  rejoicing  would  continue  also." 

According  to  Pliny,  the  feathers  of  the  wings  and 
tail  were  used  as  ornaments  for  the  crests  and  helmets 
of  warriors.  The  Athenian  general  Lamarchus  wore 
two  fine,  white  ostrich  feathers  on  his  helmet.  The 
British  Museum  has  a  bronze  statuette  of  Harpocrates 
wearing  the  Egyptian  head-dress  known  as  atef,  rest- 
ing on  goat's  horns;  it  is  composed  of  three  ostrich 
feathers,  flanked  by  two  uraei  and  surmounted  by  disks. 
Likewise  a  bronze  statuette  of  Fortune  has  on  her  head 
a  stephane  surmounted  by  a  disk,  on  each  side  of  which 
is  an  ostrich  plume,  resting  between  a  pair  of  wings 
(Walters,  Catalogue  of  the  Bronzes  in  the  British 
Museum,  Nos.  1494,  1540) . 


24  Field  Museum  op  Natural  History 

The  ostrich  was  known  to  Aristotle  as  the  bird 
who  lays  the  largest  number  of  eggs.  He  describes  it 
as  an  animal  which  has  the  feathers  in  common  with 
birds,  but  shares  with  the  quadrupeds  hairs,  eyelashes, 
and  the  inability  to  fly ;  like  the  birds,  it  has  two  feet, 
but  like  many  quadrupeds,  cloven  feet,  and  also  re- 
sembles them  in  size;  for  this  reason  it  has  no  toes, 
but  claws,  for  a  bird  must  be  small  in  size,  as  it  is  not 
easy  that  a  large  bodily  mass  moves  soaring  in  the  air. 
Aristotle,  accordingly,  conceives  the  ostrich  as  a  con- 
necting link  between  birds  and  mammals. 

In  a  similar  manner  Pliny  opens  his  book  on  birds 
with  a  tolerably  exact  description  of  the  ostrich  which 
he  terms  struthiocamelus  ("sparrow  camel"),  and 
which  he  calls  the  largest  of  birds  almost  approaching 
the  nature  of  quadrupeds.  He  assigns  it  to  Africa  or 
Ethiopia  and  writes,  "It  exceeds  in  height  a  man  sitting 
on  horseback,  and  can  surpass  him  in  swiftness,  as  it 
is  provided  with  wings  to  aid  it  in  running.  In  other 
respects  ostriches  cannot  be  considered  as  birds,  and 
do  not  rise  from  the  ground.  They  have  cloven  talons, 
very  similar  to  the  hoof  of  a  stag;  with  these  they 
fight  and  also  use  them  in  seizing  stones  for  the  pur- 
pose of  throwing  them  at  their  pursuers.  They  have 
the  marvellous  property  of  being  able  to  digest  every 
substance  without  distinction." 

The  ostrich  stands  about  seven  or  eight  feet  high 
when  full-grown,  weighs  upward  of  two  hundred 
pounds,  and  in  the  wild  state  defies  the  horse  and  rider. 
At  full  speed  it  is  said  to  make  about  twenty-six  miles 
an  hour.  The  family  to  which  the  ostrich  proper,  the 
rhea  of  South  America,  the  emu  of  Australia,  and  the 
cassowary  of  the  Malay  Archipelago,  South  Pacific,  and 
northern  Australia  belong,  differs  from  other  birds  in 
having  only  small  and  rudimentary  wings  unadapted  to 
flight,  though  they  assist  greatly  in  running ;  the  barbs 
of  the  feathers  are  of  equal  length  on  each  side  of  the 


Pliny  on  the  Ostrich  25 

quill  and  of  such  a  nature  as  to  deprive  the  animal  of 
the  power  of  flight.  The  breast  is  rounded  instead  of 
being  like  a  keel  as  in  birds  of  flight.  Aristotle  and 
Pliny  are  right  in  attributing  to  it  cloven  feet;  indeed, 
it  has  only  two  toes,  the  third  and  fourth  in  the 
pentadactyl  system,  but  unequal  in  size  and  not  covered 
with  hoofs;  the  outer  toe  is  much  smaller  and  has  no 
claw.  The  other  members  of  the  family  have  three  toes. 

The  ostrich,  as  Pliny  points  out,  is  a  good  fighter. 
When  wounded  and  hard  pressed,  it  will  attack  a  man, 
raise  its  leg  to  the  height  of  his  head,  and  kick  him  with 
its  feet,  which  are  hard  like  steel  and  yet  elastic.  A 
blow  from  this  foot  may  rip  open  any  animal  on  which 
it  may  fall.  The  notion  that  the  bird  hurls  stones  at 
its  pursuers  (according  to  Burton,  prevailing  through- 
out Arabia)  may  have  been  prompted  by  the  observa- 
tion that  when  it  runs  at  great  speed,  it  kicks  up  the 
stones  behind  with  such  violence  that  they  would  almost 
seem  to  be  flung  at  the  hunters  in  pursuit. 

Although  the  ostrich  will  swallow  almost  anything, 
it  is  by  no  means  able  to  digest  everything,  as  Pliny 
thought.  It  demands  stones  instead  of  bread  and  swal- 
lows them  in  the  same  manner  as  other  birds  do  gravel. 
They  act  as  mill-stones  and  assist  the  gizzard  in  its 
function.  In  the  South- African  ostrich  farms  a  certain 
amount  of  bone  and  grit  is  supplied  to  the  birds.  White 
quartz  has  been  found  to  give  excellent  results.  Grit 
is  so  essential  that  in  some  parts  of  the  country  it  is 
carted  by  wagon  or  by  rail  for  many  miles,  as  it  was 
found  that  without  it  the  birds  could  not  thrive — in 
fact,  could  not  exist  (Thornton). 

The  fondness  for  metals  has  obtained  for  the  bird 
the  name  of  the  "iron-eating  ostrich."  In  1579  Lyly 
wrote  in  his  Euphues  that  "the  ostrich  disgesteth  harde 
yron  to  preserve  his  health."  In  Shakespeare's  Henry 
VI  Jack  Cade  thus  threatens  Iden :   "I'll  make  thee  eat 


26  Field  Museum  op  Natural  History 

iron  like  an  ostrich,  and  swallow  my  sword  like  a  great 
pin,  ere  thou  and  I  part." 

The  ancients  entertained  no  high  idea  of  the  intel- 
ligence of  ostriches.  Pliny  comments  that  their  stupidi- 
ty is  remarkable ;  for,  although  their  body  is  so  large, 
they  imagine  that  when  they  have  thrust  their  heads 
into  a  bush,  the  whole  of  their  body  is  concealed.  Diodo- 
rus  from  Sicily,  a  Greek  historian  of  the  first  century 
B.C.,  was  much  wiser  in  remarking  that  so  far  from 
displaying  stupidity  in  thus  acting,  it  adopts  a  prudent 
precaution,  its  head  being  its  weakest  part.  The  same 
author  regarded  the  ostrich  as  a  missing  link  between 
a  bird  and  a  camel.  The  ancient  legend  is  still  reflected 
in  our  phrases  "ostrich  policy"  and  "ostrichism." 

In  The  Birds  of  Aristophanes  (415  B.C.) ,  the  great 
Greek  writer  of  comedy,  the  chorus  sings  thus : 

To  the  bird  of  awful  stature, 
Mother  of  gods,  mother  of  man; 
Great  Cybele!     Nurse  of  nature! 
Glorious  ostrich,  hear  our  cry! 
Fearful  and  enormous  creature, 
Hugest  of  all  things  that  fly, 
Oh  preserve  and  prosper  us, 
Thou  mother  of  Cleocritus! 

Nothing  is  known  about  Cleocritus,  except  that  he 
was  unfortunate  in  his  figure,  which  was  supposed  to 
resemble  that  of  an  ostrich,  while  his  mother  had  feet 
as  large  as  those  of  an  ostrich. 

Cornelius  Fido,  a  son-in-law  of  the  poet  Naso,  is 
said  to  have  burst  into  tears  when  Corbulo  called  him 
a  bare-skinned  or  plucked  ostrich  (struthocamelum 
depilatum).  Seneca  who  relates  this  anecdote  thinks 
it  funny  that  a  man  should  lose  his  temper  over  so 
absurd  a  phrase. 

The  Arabs  have  a  saying  "more  stupid  than  an 
ostrich,"  and  the  French  use  their  autruche  in  the 
sense  of  a  tall,  idiotic  fellow.  The  sweeping  judgment 
of  the  ancients,  however,  is  based  on  crude  and  limited 


The  Ostrich  Among  the  Romans  27 

observation  of  the  animal,  and  on  erroneous  interpre- 
tation of  what  they  did  not  understand. 

In  his  Report  on  Ostrich  Farming  in  America  Dr. 
T.  C.  Duncan  (1888)  writes  that  despite  its  propor- 
tionately small  brain  the  bird  is  anything  but  stupid, 
as  every  one  must  own  who  has  seen  it  breaking  open 
the  shell  to  let  out  a  chick  that  is  fast  inside,  or  has 
seen  it  managing  its  chicks. 

The  Romans  indulged  in  roast-ostrich,  and  es- 
pecially enjoyed  the  wings  as  a  delicacy.  Paulus  of 
Aegina,  a  celebrated  physician  of  the  seventh  century 
A.D.,  writes  that  they  are  as  juicy  and  savory  as  those 
of  other  birds.  Caelius  Apicius,  a  renowned  gor- 
mandizer at  the  time  of  Augustus  and  Tiberius,  who 
committed  suicide  when  he  saw  his  fortune  shrunk  to 
two  million  and  a  half  sestertii,  has  handed  down  sev- 
eral culinary  recipes  as  to  how  to  prepare  good  ostrich 
meat.  The  emperor  Heliogabalus  (a.d.  218-222)  once 
served  at  a  banquet  six  hundred  ostrich  heads,  the 
brains  of  which  were  to  be  eaten,  and  was  extremely 
fond  of  roast-ostrich.  The  usurper  Firmus,  who  re- 
belled in  Egypt  against  Aurelianus,  performed  the  tour 
de  force  to  do  away  with  an  entire  ostrich  in  the  course 
of  a  day.  Ostrich  fat  was  recommended  by  physicians 
as  a  remedy  for  all  sorts  of  pain,  and  the  stones  found 
in  its  gizzard  were  believed  to  be  a  powerful  medicine 
in  eye  diseases. 

Toward  the  end  of  the  Roman  empire  ostriches 
were  sometimes  shown  in  the  arena  of  the  circus. 
Three  hundred  birds  are  mentioned  on  one  occasion, 
and  a  thousand  on  another  as  participants  in  a  circus 
game.  A  Roman  mosaic  shows  an  ostrich  acting  in  the 
amphitheatre.  Eight  ostrich  teams  figured  in  the  tri- 
umphal procession  of  Ptolemy  Philadelphus  at  Al- 
exandria. The  Roman  emperor  Firmus  rode  with  an 
ostrich  team  and  conveyed  the  impression  as  if  he  were 
flying.    Amor  is  represented  on  an  engraved  gem  as 


28 


Field  Museum  of  Natural  History 


being  drawn  by  two  ostriches  (Fig.  6).  A  picture  on  a 
Greek  vase  illustrates  a  comical  chorus  of  spearmen 
astride  on  ostriches  (Fig.  5).  A  cut  gem  of  Oriental, 
perhaps  Gnostic  origin,  shows  a  running  ostrich  sur- 
rounded by  symbolic  designs,  among  these  a  star  with 
apples  (Fig.  7). 


Fig.  6. 
Amor  with  a  Team  of  Two  Ostriches.  Cut  Gem  of  Green  Jasper. 
After  Imhoof-Blumer. 


Fig.  7- 

Cut  Gem  of  Serpentine  Representing  a  Running  Ostrich,  Surrounded  by  SymDOlic 

Designs,  among  these  Star  with  Apples    Oriental,  perhaps  Gnostic. 

After  Imhoof-Blumer. 


THE  OSTRICH  IN  THE  RECORDS  AND 
MONUMENTS  OF  THE  CHINESE 

The  ostrich  was  first  discovered  for  the  Chinese 
by  the  renowned  general  Chang  K'ien  during  his  memo- 
rable mission  to  the  nations  of  the  west  (138-126  B.C.) . 
He  returned  to  China  with  the  report  that  in  the  coun- 
tries west  of  Parthia  there  were  "great  birds  with  eggs 
of  the  size  of  a  pottery  jar."  The  "great  bird"  is  the 
common  name  of  the  ostrich  among  all  early  Greek 
writers,  while  the  name  "camel-sparrow"  or  "camel- 
bird"  is  found  at  a  later  time  in  Diodorus  and  Strabo. 
When  Chang  K'ien  had  negotiated  his  treaties  with  the 
Iranian  countries  in  the  west,  the  king  of  Parthia 
(called  Arsak  by  the  Chinese  after  the  ruling  dynasty, 
the  Arsacides)  sent  an  embassy  to  the  Chinese  court, 
and  offered  as  tribute  eggs  of  the  Great  Bird.  In 
a.d.  101  live  specimens  of  ostriches,  together  with  lions, 
were  despatched  from  Parthia  to  China,  and  at  that 
time  were  styled  "Arsak  (that  is,  Parthian)  birds," 
also  "great  horse  birds."  On  becoming  acquainted  with 
the  Persia  of  the  Sasanian  dynasty,  the  Chinese  Annals 
mention  ostrich  eggs  as  products  of  Persia,  and  de- 
scribe the  bird  as  being  shaped  like  a  camel,  equipped 
with  two  wings,  able  to  fly,  but  incapable  of  rising 
high,  subsisting  on  grass  and  flesh,  also  able  to  swallow 
fire.  Another  account  says  quite  correctly  that  the 
birds  eat  barley.  When  an  attempt  was  made  in  Algeria 
to  domesticate  them,  it  was  found  that  they  thrive 
well  on  barley,  fresh  grass,  cabbage,  leaves  of  the  cac- 
tus or  Barbary  leaves  chopped  fine ;  and  three  pounds 
of  barley  a  day  was  recommended  for  each  bird,  green 
food  according  to  circumstances. 

To  the  north  of  Persia,  the  Annals  of  the  Wei  dy- 
nasty mention  a  country  Fu-lu-ni,  where  there  is  a 
great  river  flowing  southward ;  this  territory  harbors 

29 


30  Field  Museum  op  Natural  History 

a  bird  resembling  a  man,  but  also  like  a  camel.  Again, 
under  the  T'ang  dynasty,  in  a.d.  650,  the  country  To- 
khara  offered  to  China  "large  birds  seven  feet  in  height, 
black  in  color,  with  feet  resembling  those  of  a  camel, 
marching  with  outstretched  wings  and  able  to  run  three 
hundred  (Chinese)  miles  a  day  and  to  swallow  iron." 
They  were  then  called  "camel  birds,"  in  accordance 
with  the  Greek,  Arabic,  and  Persian  designations. 
Again,  in  the  first  part  of  the  eighth  century,  ostrich 
eggs  were  sent  to  China  from  Sogdiana.  We  have  to 
assume  that  the  live  birds  transported  from  Persia  to 
the  capital  of  China  over  a  route  of  several  thousand 
miles  must  have  been  extraordinarily  tame,  and  it  was 
a  remarkable  feat  at  that.  These  birds  must  have  been 
kept  in  the  parks  of  the  Chinese  emperors  who  were 
always  fond  of  strange  animals  and  plants.  What  is 
still  more  astounding  is  the  fact  that  in  the  mausolea 
of  the  T'ang  emperors  near  Li-t'suan  in  Shen-si  Prov- 
ince there  are  beautiful,  naturalistic  representations  of 
ostriches  carved  in  high  relief  in  stone  (Plates  VI-VII 
and  Fig.  8).  The  two  sculptured  slabs  shown  in  the 
Plates  were  erected  on  the  tomb  of  the  emperor  Kao 
Tsung,  who  died  in  A.D.  683;  the  one  in  Fig.  8  was 
placed  on  the  tomb  of  the  emperor  Jui  Tsung,  who  died 
in  a.d.  712.  The  artists  of  the  period  doubtless  received 
an  imperial  command  to  portray  the  ostriches  of  the 
imperial  park  in  commemoration  of  the  vast  expansion 
of  the  empire  over  Central  Asia  during  that  epoch. 
As  shown  by  their  results,  they  did  not  copy  any  foreign 
artistic  models,  but  they  witnessed  and  carefully  ob- 
served and  studied  live  specimens.  Their  ostriches,  in 
fact,  belong  to  the  best  ever  executed  and  known  in 
the  history  of  art,  and  are  far  superior  to  any  repre- 
sentations of  the  bird  in  Assyria,  Egypt,  and  Greece, 
which  are  conventional  and  stiff.  The  Chinese  ostriches 
are  correct  in  their  accentuation  of  motion  and  action. 
The  formation  and  length  of  the  neck  allow  the  bird 


LEAFLET  23. 


PLATE  VI. 


CHINESE  STONE  SCULPTURE  OF  OSTRICH  ON  THE  TOMB  OF  THE  EMPEROR  KAO 
TSUNQ  (?.  30).     T'ANQ  PERIOD.   SEVENTH  CENTURY  A.D. 

After  E.  C'havannes. 


The  Ostrich  Among  the  Chinese  81 

to  turn  its  head  completely  around,  a  characteristic 
skilfully  brought  to  life  in  stone  by  the  unknown  Chi- 
nese sculptor  (Fig.  8). 

For  comparison  the  sketch  of  an  ostrich  by  Al- 
brecht  Dtirer  is  reproduced  in  Plate  VIII.  It  is  dated 
1508  with  the  addition  of  the  monogram  A.  D.  It  is 
supposed  that  during  his  stay  in  Venice  the  artist  may 


Fig.  8. 

Chinese  Stone  Sculpture  of  Ostrich  from  the  Tomb  of  the  Emperor  Jui  Tsung. 

Tang  Period,  Eighth  Century. 

After  E.  Chavannes. 

have  had  occasion  to  view  a  live  ostrich.  His  sketch  is 
better  than  that  of  his  contemporary,  the  naturalist 
C.  Gesner,  who  had  evidently  never  seen  the  bird.  In 
the  museum  of  Nuremberg  there  is  a  painting  of  Wohl- 
gemut  representing  the  adoration  of  the  Three  Magi ; 
the  Moor  offers  an  ostrich  egg  filled  with  spices  and 
bordered  with  gold  or  silver.  The  initials  A.D.  on  the 


32  Field  Museum  of  Natural  History 

egg  possibly  refer  to  Diirer,  and  may  hint  at  his  col- 
laboration. 

Under  the  Tang,  the  Chinese  were  also  informed 
of  the  fact  that  the  ostrich  was  a  native  of  Arabia.  It 
is  on  record  that  "the  camel-bird  who  inhabits  Arabia 
is  four  feet  and  more  in  height,  its  feet  resembling  those 
of  a  camel ;  its  neck  is  very  strong,  and  men  are  able 
to  ride  on  its  back  (compare  p.  16) ;  the  birds  thus 
walk  for  five  or  six  miles.  Its  eggs  have  the  capacity 
of  two  pints." 

When,  during  the  middle  ages,  the  Chinese  became 
slightly  acquainted  with  the  east  coast  of  Africa,  they 
learned  also  that  the  ostrich  was  at  home  in  the  Somali 
country.  Then  they  styled  it  "camel  crane,"  and  com- 
pared its  eggs  not  unfittingly  with  a  coconut.  They 
even  report  that  the  natives  of  Africa  heat  copper  or 
iron  red  and  give  it  to  the  birds  to  eat ;  if  the  eggs  are 
broken,  they  give  a  ring  like  pottery  vessels.  In  the 
fifteenth  century,  under  the  Ming,  ostriches  are  re- 
ported also  from  Aden  and  Hormuz. 

While  in  general  the  Chinese  accounts  are  sensible 
and  make  an  interesting  contribution  to  the  geographi- 
cal distribution  of  the  species  in  ancient  times,  it  is 
noteworthy  that  they  never  allude  to  the  bird's  plu- 
mage ;  and  it  seems  that  its  feathers  were  never  utilized 
in  China.  We  are  well  acquainted  with  all  articles  of 
trade  imported  into  China  by  the  enterprising  Arabs 
from  the  early  middle  ages  down  to  more  recent  times, 
but  ostrich  plumes  are  never  mentioned.  Feathers  of 
pheasants  were  used  by  the  Chinese  for  the  decoration 
of  head-dresses,  peacock  and  eagle  feathers  for  fans, 
the  blue  feather  of  the  kingfisher  for  inlaying  in  orna- 
ments and  screens. 

The  area  of  the  habitat  of  the  ostrich  was  formerly 
much  more  extended  than  at  present;  continued  per- 
secution of  the  bird  for  the  sake  of  its  precious  plumage 
has  exterminated  it  in  certain  districts  or  decreased  its 


The  Ostrich  Among  the  Chinese  88 

numbers.  It  may  still  occur  in  some  parts  of  southern 
Persia,  and  still  lingers  in  the  wastes  of  Kirwan  in  east- 
ern Persia,  whence  individuals  may  occasionally  stray 
northward  to  those  of  Turkestan,  even  as  far  as  the 
lower  course  of  the  Oxus.  No  representation  of  the 
bird  has  as  yet  been  found  in  Persian  art. 


THE  OSTRICH  IN  AFRICA 

The  ostrich  has  reached  its  greatest  extension  in 
the  vast  grass  steppes  of  Africa,  especially  those  cov- 
ered with  brushwood,  where  it  finds  the  best  conditions 
for  living  and  satisfying  its  nomadic  habits.  There  it 
migrates  from  pasture  to  pasture,  and  may  appear  and 
disappear  in  a  certain  locality,  particularly  when  forced 
by  lack  of  food  or  droughts  to  move.  A  gregarious  ani- 
mal, it  wanders  about  in  flocks  of  twenty  and  thirty 
and  keeps  strictly  to  the  steppe,  but  avoids  altogether 
forests,  high  tablelands,  and  damp  and  swampy  tracts. 
It  associates  also  with  other  species,  like  giraffes, 
zebras,  and  antelopes  (Plate  IX),  who  look  upon  the 
ostrich  as  their  guardian.  On  account  of  its  tallness 
and  far-sightedness  the  bird  is  the  first  to  give  them  a 
danger  signal.  The  ostrich  is  extraordinarily  keen- 
sighted,  and  on  its  native  plains  is  extremely  wary. 
The  whole  tribe  is  characterized  by  excessive  shyness 
and  timidity  without  which  in  the  struggle  for  self- 
preservation  it  would  ere  this  have  ceased  to  exist. 

The  ostrich  lives  on  cereals,  seeds  of  grasses,  vege- 
tables, leaves,  buds,  berries,  dates,  fruits  of  the  tama- 
rind and  palms,  young  birds,  lizards,  beetles,  grass- 
hoppers, etc.  In  general  frugal  and  capable  of  with- 
standing hunger  and  thirst  for  days,  it  becomes  greedy 
and  indiscriminately  voracious  at  times.  The  birds  per- 
form strange  dances  in  the  sunshine,  run  around  in  a 
circle,  flap  their  wings,  and  endeavor  to  rise  into  the 
air.  During  the  mating  season  the  male  always  wooes 
the  female  with  wild  and  eccentric  dances.  He  is  the 
original  inventor  of  the  Charleston.  Ostriches  are  fond 
of  bathing  and  swimming,  and  have  been  observed  to 
take  to  the  brine.  In  more  than  one  respect  they  are  al- 
most human,  and  in  their  mobility  and  peregrinations 

34 


LEAFLET  23. 


PLATE  VII. 


CHINESE  STONE  SCULPTURE  OF  OSTRICH  ON  THE  TOMB  OF  THE  EMPEROR  KAO 

TSUNQ  (p.  30).      TANG  PERIOD.   SEVENTH  CENTURY  A.O. 

After  E.  Chavannes. 


The  Ostrich  in  Africa  35 

over  vast  stretches  of  land  they  are  typical,  restless  no- 
mads given  to  a  life  of  hustle  and  bustle. 

The  natives  of  Africa  have  at  all  times  appreciated 
both  its  feathers  and  flesh.  The  former  are  used  as  fly- 
whisks  and  as  ornaments  on  lances,  in  the  kingdom  of 
Congo  as  war  standards,  by  the  Somali  as  head-orna- 
ments. The  empty  egg-shells  serve  as  water-vessels, 
and  are  suspended  in  tents  and  mosques.  The  roofs  of 
straw  huts  in  the  Sudan  are  adorned  with  the  eggs. 
Many  Negro  tribes  cut  the  shell  into  small  button-like 


Fig.  9. 

Painted  Ostrich  Egg  from  Etruscan  Tomb  of  Isis. 

After  G.  Dennis. 

pieces  which  they  perforate  and  string,  wearing  such 
strands  as  necklaces.  Perforated  and  decorated  ostrich 
egg-shells,  together  with  implements  of  the  stone  age, 
were  unearthed  by  Foureau  in  the  Sahara. 

Painted  ostrich  eggs  were  discovered  in  the  Punic 
tombs  of  Carthage  and  even  in  the  tomb  of  the  valley  of 
Betis  in  Spain.  In  the  tomb  of  Isis  opened  at  Vulci, 
Italy,  in  1839,  and  so  called  on  account  of  the  Egyptian 
articles  found  in  it,  but  in  fact  the  sepulchre  of  two 
Etruscan  ladies  of  rank,  were  found  six  ostrich  eggs, 
one  of  these  being  painted  with  a  winged  camel  or,  more 


36  Field  Museum  op  Natural  History 

probably,  a  fabulous  creature  (Fig.  9).  G.  Dennis 
(Cities  and  Cemeteries  of  Etruria)  is  inclined  to  think 
that  these  eggs  were  imported  from  Egypt,  but  others 
assume  that  they  testify  to  the  ancient  commercial 
relations  between  Etruria  and  Carthage.  There  is  a 
fragmentary  cup  of  plated  silver,  presumably  im- 
ported from  Carthage  into  Etruria,  which  is  adorned 
with  rows  of  fantastic  and  real  animals,  among  these 
unmistakable  ostriches. 

The  trans-Saharan  trade  in  ostrich  eggs  has  per- 
sisted to  the  present  day.  The  eggs  are  sent  along  with 
the  consignment  of  feathers  and  emerge  at  the  towns 
of  the  Mediterranean  coasts  of  Tunis  and  Tripolis, 
where  they  are  in  request  as  pendant  ornaments  in  the 
mosques. 

Richard  F.  Burton  (Lake  Regions  of  Central  Afri- 
ca) wrote  in  1860,  "The  ostrich  extends  through 
Unyamwezi  and  Usukuma  to  Ujiji.  The  eggs  are  sold, 
sometimes  fresh,  but  more  generally  stale.  Emptied 
and  dried,  they  form  the  principal  circulating-medium 
between  the  Arab  merchants  and  the  coffee-growing 
races  near  the  Nyanza  Lake,  who  cut  them  up  and 
grind  them  into  ornamental  disks  and  crescents.  The 
young  birds  are  caught,  but  are  rarely  tamed.  In  Usu- 
kuma the  bright  and  glossy  feathers  of  the  old  male 
are  much  esteemed  for  adorning  the  hair ;  yet,  curious 
to  say,  the  bird  is  seldom  hunted.  Moreover,  these  East 
Africans  have  never  attempted  to  export  the  feathers, 
which,  when  white  and  uninjured,  are  sold,  even  by  the 
Somal,  for  eight  dollars  a  pound.  The  birds  are  at  once 
wild  and  stupid,  timid,  and  headstrong;  their  length- 
ened strides  and  backward  glances  announce  terror  at 
the  sight  of  man,  and  it  is  impossible  to  stalk  them  in 
the  open  grounds,  which  they  prefer." 

The  Nandi  in  eastern  equatorial  Africa  wear  a 
cockade  of  ostrich  feather  in  times  of  war.  It  is  with 
them  also  an  emblem  of  peace ;  when  after  war  peace  is 


The  Ostrich  in  Africa  87 

desired,  an  ostrich  feather  is  placed  in  a  high-road  in  a 
prominent  position.  The  Nandi  have  the  following 
riddle :  "What  is  the  thing  which,  though  so  weak  that 
it  is  blown  about  by  the  wind,  is  able  to  herd  oxen?" 
Answer :  "The  ostrich-feather  head-dress."  The  grass 
in  the  Nandi  country  is  so  high  that  only  a  warrior's 
head-dress  can  be  seen  above  it,  and  at  first  sight  it  of- 
ten appears  as  if  a  herd  of  oxen  were  being  guarded 
by  the  ostrich  feathers,  which  are  the  plaything  of 
every  gust  of  wind  (A.  C.  Hollis). 

Among  the  Somalis  the  ostrich  feather  is  univer- 
sally used  as  a  sign  and  symbol  of  victory.  Every  man 
hangs  to  his  saddle-bow  an  ostrich  feather,  and  gener- 
ally the  white  feather  only  is  stuck  in  the  hair.  All  the 
clans  wear  it  in  the  back  hair,  but  each  has  its  own 
rules.  Some  make  it  a  standard  decoration,  others  dis- 
card it  after  the  first  few  days.  The  learned  have  an 
aversion  to  the  custom,  stigmatizing  it  as  pagan  and 
idolatrous ;  the  vulgar  look  upon  it  as  the  highest  mark 
of  honor  (R.  F.  Burton). 

In  the  Lango  country  the  white  ostrich  feathers 
are  dyed  red  with  iron  ochre  and  worn  as  head-orna- 
ments. The  greater  part  of  the  feathers  now  exported 
from  the  Sudan  are  furnished  by  ostriches  taken  young 
and  reared  by  the  Shilluks  and  Bagaras.  These  birds 
become  as  tame  as  chickens ;  in  the  morning  they  go  to 
the  fields  with  the  cattle,  and  return  home  in  the  eve- 
ning. 

The  ostrich-hunters  par  excellence  were  the  Bush- 
men of  South  Africa,  now  extinct.  Their  legends  prove 
that  they  had  an  intimate  knowledge  of  the  life  of  the 
ostrich.  Two  of  these  are  recorded  in  the  "Specimens 
of  Bushman  Folklore"  by  Bleek  and  Lloyd  ( 1911) .  One 
of  these,  entitled  the  Resurrection  of  the  Ostrich,  gives 
a  good  picture  of  the  bird's  mating  habits  and  winds  up 
thus :  "He  will  drive  away  the  jackal,  when  he  thinks 
that  the  jackal  is  coming  to  the  eggs,  the  jackal  will 


38  Field  Museum  op  Natural  History 

push  the  eggs.  Therefore  he  takes  care  of  the  eggs,  be- 
cause they  are  indeed  his  children.  Therefore,  he  also 
takes  care  of  them,  that  he  may  drive  away  the  jackal, 
that  the  jackal  may  not  kill  his  children,  that  he  may 
kick  the  jackal  with  his  feet." 

Fig.  10  represents  two  sketches  of  ostriches  made 
by  the  Bushmen  living  in  the  west  corner  of  the  Orange 


Fig.  io. 

Bushmen  Rock  Carvings  of  Ostriches. 

After  M.  Helen  Tongue. 

River  Colony.  They  are  reproduced  from  the  work  of 
M.  Helen  Tongue,  "Bushman  Paintings"  (Oxford, 
1909) .  These  pictures  are  carved  in  rocks  by  means  of 
a  stone.  The  markings  indicating  feathers  in  the  sketch 
on  the  right  are  chipped  in  the  scraped-out  surface  of 
the  flat  stone.  The  curved  neck  and  the  outline  of  the 
body  testify  to  good  observation.  The  other  sketch  is 
more  primitive  and  not  so  good.    A  fine  example  of 


The  Ostrich  Among  the  Bushmen  89 

Bushman  paintings  of  ostriches  is  reproduced  in 
Plate  V. 

In  excavating  the  diamond-bearing  deposits  at  Du 
Toit's  Pan,  in  Griqualand  West,  numerous  Bushman 
beads  made  of  ostrich  egg-shell  were  found  at  various 
depths  ranging  from  six  to  eight  feet,  and  in  several 
spots  resting  on  the  bed  of  calcareous  tufa.  These  local 
accumulations  had  evidently  been  very  gradual  in  their 
formation.  Multitudes  of  minute  land-shells  were 
interspersed  throughout  them,  the  animals  which  in- 
habited them  having  evidently  perished  and  been  en- 
tombed while  traversing  the  arid  sand.  This  place  had 
obviously  been  a  great  station  for  the  Bushmen,  in  the 
midst  of  the  ostrich  country,  and  had  in  all  probability 
been  a  locality,  where  the  manufacture  of  ostrich  egg- 
shell beads  had  been  carried  on  for  generations.  Some 
were  found  in  various  stages  of  manufacture.  Some  of 
those  dug  out  from  the  lowest  depths  had  become  per- 
fectly fossilized,  and  adhered  to  the  tongue. 

A  belt  from  three  to  six  or  seven  inches  in  width, 
formerly  worn  by  young  Bushman  women,  consisted  of 
small  circular  pieces  of  ostrich  egg-shell  bored  in  the 
centre  and  strung  like  buttons  with  their  flat  sides  to- 
gether. Necklaces  were  made  in  a  similar  manner.  Af- 
ter the  stronger  peoples  came  in  contact  with  the  Bush- 
men bead-makers,  they  used  to  purchase  these  pierced 
disks  of  egg-shell  from  the  latter  for  small  bits  of  iron. 
Ostrich  egg-shells  also  furnished  the  Bushmen  with 
water-bottles  in  which  to  carry  water  to  the  place  of 
their  haunt.  The  openings  were  closed  with  a  bunch 
of  grass.  The  women  carried  twenty  or  thirty  of  such 
egg-shells  in  a  bag  or  net  on  their  backs. 

Spears  and  poles  dressed  with  black  ostrich  feath- 
ers were  stuck  in  the  ground  around  places,  where 
the  Bushmen  halted  during  their  hunting  expeditions, 
in  order  to  frighten  away  lions,  which,  from  their  ex- 
perience, it  was  discovered  were  not  fond  of  their  ap- 


40  Field  Museum  op  Natural  History 

pearance  (G.  W.  Stow,  Native  Races  of  South  Africa) . 

The  Bushmen,  further,  used  the  breastbone  of  the 
ostrich  as  a  dish,  made  threads  of  its  sinews  and 
wrought  these  into  nets  and  bags. 

From  the  remains  of  ostrich  egg-shells  is  prepared 
a  powder  which  is  also  regarded  by  the  Boers  as  an  ex- 
cellent remedy  for  man  and  cattle ;  it  is  even  said  to  pro- 
tect one  from  blindness. 

In  South  Africa  the  ostrich  exists  now  only  in  the 
domesticated  state.  In  the  Kalahari  desert,  however, 
in  the  tablelands  of  South-west  Africa,  Matabele  and 
northern  Rhodesia  it  still  occurs  wild. 


THE  DOMESTICATION  OF  THE  OSTRICH 

The  ostrich  is  the  most  recent  of  all  domesticated 
animals,  and  its  complete  domestication  was  accomp- 
lished by  the  white  farmers  of  South  Africa  as  late  as 
the  latter  part  of  the  nineteenth  century.  It  is  the  only 
domestication  that  occured  in  modern  times,  and  the 
only  one  to  which,  with  certain  reservations,  our  own 
civilization  may  lay  claim ;  all  other  domestications  of 
large  mammals  and  birds  were  brought  about  ages  ago, 
either  in  Asia  or  Africa,  and  were  simply  adopted  by 
the  nations  of  Europe.  The  first  step  toward  domesti- 
cation is  taming  and  training,  but  a  tamed  animal  is  not 
necessarily  domesticated.  In  India,  for  instance,  the 
elephant  has  been  tamed  and  schooled  as  a  laborer  to  a 
high  degree  of  perfection,  but  does  not  propagate  in 
captivity ;  for  this  reason  it  is  not  classed  among  domes- 
ticated animals.  In  the  stage  of  domestication  the  ani- 
mal propagates  its  species,  and  in  its  breeding  is  to  a 
great  extent  influenced  by  human  interference ;  it  will 
gradually  lose  many  of  its  savage  instincts  and  acquire 
new  useful  qualities.  In  this  manner  are  formed  nu- 
merous new  varieties  which  exhibit  many  differences 
from  the  original  type  and  greatly  vary  in  size,  color, 
habits,  even  in  anatomical  and  mental  traits. 

Long  before  the  advent  of  the  white  man,  the  na- 
tives of  Africa  had  kept  ostriches  in  captivity  and 
tamed  them  to  a  certain  extent,  but  they  did  not  succeed 
in  domesticating  them.  A  few  examples  may  suffice  to 
illustrate  this  point. 

In  the  Uganda  Protectorate,  where  the  ostrich  is  a 
native  of  the  northern  and  eastern  districts,  its  eggs  and 
recently  hatched  young  are  constantly  brought  in  by  the 
natives  for  sale.  Boyd  Alexander  (From  the  Niger  to 
the  Nile)  writes  that  in  Bornu  the  ostrich  is  not  much 

41 


42  Field  Museum  op  Natural  History 

hunted,  because  it  is  very  difficult  to  get  near,  but  that 
the  natives  catch  the  young  which  become  domes- 
ticated, most  of  the  big  men  in  Bornu  owning  three  or 
four.  The  word  "domesticated"  is  here  used  in  a  loose 
fashion,  not  in  the  strictly  scientific  sense. 

For  generations  the  Arabs  and  Berbers  of  North 
Africa  have  kept  the  ostrich  in  small  kraals  and  ruth- 
lessly plucked  its  feathers.  These  are  birds  captured  as 
chicks  from  the  nest  of  the  wild  bird,  but  chicks  were 
never  bred  in  captivity. 

In  Kordof  an  in  the  Egyptian  Sudan  young  ostrich- 
es are  frequently  reared,  fattened,  and  slaughtered ;  the 
flesh  is  eaten  either  fresh  or  dried.  In  the  Arabic 
villages  of  Central  Africa  ostriches  are  kept  for  their 
feathers ;  they  are  hatched  from  eggs  accidentally  dis- 
covered. In  the  Sudan  chicks  are  caught,  raised  by 
hand  and  kept  until  the  birds  become  too  old  to  produce 
feathers  of  paying  quality,  when  they  are  killed  and 
eaten.  The  system  of  farming  these  birds  is  to  enclose 
each  in  a  small  circular  mud  wall  or  enclosure,  about 
eight  feet  in  diameter.  The  birds  are  never  given  an  op- 
portunity to  breed ;  and  this  practice,  being  continued 
for  centuries,  has  led  to  the  belief  that  the  ostrich  will 
not  breed  in  captivity.  The  method  of  removing  the 
feathers  from  these  captive  birds  was  atrocious  and  the 
crudest  possible ;  whenever  the  native  farmer  required 
money,  he  pulled  as  many  feathers  from  the  bird  as  he 
could  remove  in  order  to  turn  them  into  cash.  The 
stage  of  the  growth  of  the  feathers  was  not  considered, 
the  feather  sockets  were  damaged,  and  in  the  course  of 
two  or  three  years  the  birds  produced  only  worthless 
feathers.  It  was  a  system  of  spoliation  inspired  by  the 
most  sordid  greed  of  profit. 

In  the  eighteenth  century  ostriches  were  still  plen- 
tiful in  southern  Africa.  Peter  Kolbe,  who  spent  ten 
years  there  on  scientific  research,  wrote  in  1742,  "These 
birds  occur  in  the  Cape  Territory  in  so  large  a  number 


LEAFLET  23. 


PLATE  VIII. 


SKETCH  OF  OSTRICH  BY  ALBRECHT  DORER,    DATED  1508  <|>.  ji>. 
After  S.  Killermann. 


The  Domestication  of  the  Ostrich  43 

that  you  cannot  travel  for  a  quarter  of  a  mile  without 
seeing  some  of  them.  They  can  easily  be  tamed,  and 
many  are  kept  in  the  Citadel  of  the  Cape." 

As  early  as  1662,  Jan  van  Riebeek,  Dutch  com- 
mander of  the  Cape  Colony  (1652-62) ,  directed  his  suc- 
cessor's attention  to  the  taming  of  young  ostriches.  On 
several  occasions  tame  ostriches  had  been  sent  to  the 
Indies,  where  they  had  proved  acceptable  presents  to 
native  potentates.  Their  feathers  were  saleable,  but  it 
does  not  seem  to  have  occured  to  any  one  in  those  days 
that  it  would  pay  to  tame  the  bird  for  the  sake  of  its 
plumage  (G.  M.  Theal,  History  of  Africa  South  of  the 
Zambesi). 

When  in  1865  the  domestication  was  first  attempt- 
ed in  South  Africa,  natives  who  had  some  experience 
in  managing  the  birds  were  employed  as  trainers ;  but 
when  it  has  been  recognized  that  the  domestication  is 
historically  connected  with  the  crude  efforts  of  the 
natives,  it  must  be  frankly  admitted,  on  the  other  hand, 
that  the  success  of  the  actual  domestication  is  solely  to 
the  merit  of  the  Africanders.  They  certainly  availed 
themselves,  as  it  could  not  be  expected  otherwise,  of 
some  of  the  experiences  previously  accumulated  for 
many  centuries,  not  as  mere  imitators,  however,  but  as 
novel  investigators  who  grasped  the  situation  with 
open  eyes  and  energetically  applied  themselves  to  a 
minute  study  of  the  bird's  life-habits.  By  creating  for 
their  favorite  its  natural  surroundings,  by  reserving  to 
it  vast  spaces  for  movement  and  exercise,  and  by 
proper  feeding  and  care-taking,  above  all,  by  sympathy 
and  understanding,  their  success  was  permanently  in- 
sured. Just  because  these  simple  farmers  were  simply 
human  and  humane,  they  achieved  what  was  denied  to 
the  Egyptians,  Romans,  or  Arabs  with  their  vain  con- 
ceit. The  barbarous  treatment  which  the  poor  bird  had 
hitherto  received  from  the  hands  of  African  savages 


44  Field  Museum  of  Natural  History 

gave  way  to  a  charitable  attitude  and  an  enlightened 
method  prompted  by  truly  scientific  research. 

The  domesticated  stocks  of  South  Africa  were  pro- 
duced from  captured  wild  chicks  who,  on  reaching  the 
age  of  maturity,  were  allowed  to  breed.  Due  to  careful 
handling  and  selected  breeding,  the  quality  of  the 
feathers  has  vastly  improved. 

The  following  figures  may  illustrate  the  rapid 
progress  made  by  the  industry  in  South  Africa  since 
ostriches  were  first  domesticated.  In  1865  there  were 
in  South  Africa  80  domesticated  ostriches ;  the  weight 
of  feathers  exported  in  that  year  was  17,000  lbs.,  most 
of  which  were  feathers  of  wild  birds,  valued  at  £65,000. 
Ten  years  later,  in  1875,  there  were  32,000  domesticated 
birds,  and  the  export  of  feathers  amounted  to  100,000 
lbs.,  to  the  value  of  £300,000.  In  1891  the  number  of 
domesticated  birds  had  increased  to  154,000 ;  weight  of 
feathers  exported  was  212,000  lbs.,  probably  including 
a  small  amount  of  wild  birds'  feathers,  to  the  value  of 
£563,000.  In  1904  there  were  307,000  domesticated 
ostriches ;  the  export  of  feathers  was  470,000  lbs.,  val- 
ued at  £1,058,000.  In  1908  a  maximum  of  700,000 
domesticated  ostriches  was  reached;  the  weight  in 
feathers  exported  came  to  800,000  lbs.,  valued  at 
£2,098,000.  In  1913  a  million  pounds  of  feathers  were 
exported,  valued  at  £2,750,000.  There  is,  accordingly, 
the  remarkable  result  that  during  a  period  of  forty- 
eight  years  the  industry  has  risen  from  an  export  value 
of  £65,000  to  £2,750,000 ;  that  is,  an  increase  of  4130 
per  cent. 

In  mediaeval  Europe  ostrich  plumes  decked  the 
helmets  of  knights,  later  the  hats  of  cavaliers,  and  the 
fashion  came  in  again  for  a  time  at  the  Restoration. 
The  fashion  of  the  seventeenth  century  was  dominated 
by  a  large  felt  hat  decorated  with  ostrich  plumes  laid 
around  the  brim.    Their  natural  beauty,  particularly 


The  Domestication  of  the  Ostrich  46 

the  graceful  curve  taken  toward  the  tip,  has  always  had 
a  strange  fascination  for  the  human  heart. 

The  feathers  are  now  utilized  for  the  decoration  of 
ladies'  hats,  as  well  as  for  the  making  of  fans  and  boas. 
For  the  latter  the  flue  or  soft  portion  of  the  feathers 
only,  also  damaged  and  inferior  feathers,  are  used.  The 
flue  of  inferior  feathers  serves  also  for  padding  clothes 
and  quilts.  The  market,  of  course,  is  subject  to  fluctua- 
tions due  to  changes  of  fashion,  but  it  is  very  unlikely 
that  the  demand  for  ostrich  feathers  will  ever  complete- 
ly die  out. 

Each  bird  has  twenty-five  white  plumes  in  each 
wing  with  a  row  of  protectors,  floss  feathers  under- 
neath. Above  these  are  a  row  of  black  feathers  and  still 
another  row  of  shorter  ones  which  are  black  in  the  adult 
male  and  drab  in  the  hen.  The  feathers  are  removed 
by  clipping ;  at  the  age  of  six  months  the  birds  receive 
their  first  clipping,  and  thereafter  are  clipped  at  inter- 
vals of  nine  months.  The  bird  will  continue  to  produce 
good  feathers  for  practically  an  indefinite  period.  This 
method  is  perfectly  humane,  the  bird  does  not  receive 
any  injury  whatever.  Feeding  was  found  to  have  a 
very  marked  effect  on  the  feather  growth.  This  led  to 
the  pampering  of  the  bird  to  such  an  extent  that  it  is 
now  fed  on  everything  it  desires.  This  method  of  hu- 
morizing  its  appetite  has  produced  the  best  results.  The 
fact  that  the  highly-fed  ostrich  gave  the  greatest  finan- 
cial return  was  the  cause  of  erecting  the  majority  of 
the  largest  irrigation-works  undertaken  in  South  Afri- 
ca. The  return  was  so  enormous  that  many  irrigation- 
works  which  could  not  have  been  undertaken  otherwise 
were  carried  out  as  paying  propositions,  and  are  at 
present  a  source  of  immense  wealth  to  the  country. 

The  farmer  of  South  Africa,  as  R.  W.  Thornton 
justly  says,  is  under  an  inestimable  debt  of  gratitude  to 
the  ostrich  as  being  the  means  by  which  the  best  areas 
of  arid  land  have  been  converted  under  irrigation  into 


46  Field  Museum  of  Natural  History 

highly  productive  fodder-producing  areas,  which,  even 
if  the  industry  were  to  fail,  would  be  of  incalculable 
value  as  fodder-producing  areas  for  any  class  of 
farming. 

Experiments  to  introduce  ostrich  domestication 
into  Algeria  in  1881  were  unsuccessful.  Egypt  has  an 
ostrich  farm  near  Matarieh  north  of  Cairo. 

In  view  of  the  similar  climatic  and  soil  conditions 
of  South  Africa  and  Australia  and  considering  the  fact 
that  the  camel  introduced  in  1846  was  rapidly  accli- 
matized in  Australia,  it  was  suggested  to  naturalize 
there  also  the  South  African  ostrich.  Its  breeding  was 
started  in  1880  in  the  southern  part  of  the  continent, 
but  has  thus  far  not  been  very  successful.  The  statis- 
tics of  the  Australian  Government  for  the  year  1922 
give  the  number  of  ostriches  in  the  Commonwealth  as 
780,  which  is  a  small  figure  as  compared,  for  instance, 
with  11,738  camels.  Good  results  were  attained  on  an 
ostrich  farm  near  Christchurch  in  New  Zealand.  Near 
Buenos  Ayres,  in  Montevideo,  Argentina,  and  Patago- 
nia ostrich  farms  were  also  founded. 


I    < 


THE  OSTRICH  IN  AMERICA 

In  1882  Dr.  Charles  J.  Sketchly,  one  of  the  greatest 
ostrich-farmers  in  South  Africa,  transported  a  troop  of 
two  hundred  picked  ostriches  from  Cape  Town  via 
Buenos  Ayres  to  New  York.  From  there  the  birds 
were  forwarded  by  railroad  via  Chicago  and  Omaha  to 
the  Pacific  coast,  having  covered  a  distance  of  23,000 
miles.  Twenty-two  arrived  in  California  in  fair  condi- 
tion, and  were  at  once  taken  to  Anaheim.  The  Cali- 
fornia Ostrich  Company  was  soon  formed  with  a  capital 
of  $30,000,  and  Dr.  Sketchly  was  made  superintendent. 
The  first  year  these  birds  resided  in  America  they  pre- 
sented the  company  from  April  to  October  with  270 
eggs. 

At  the  same  time  the  American  Ostrich  Company 
was  organized  in  Maine  with  E.  J.  Johnson  as  manager. 
He  went  to  Africa  and  spent  there  a  year,  studying  the 
habits  and  management  of  the  birds.  He  started  with 
twenty-three  of  them  and  landed  at  New  Orleans  in 
December,  1884,  after  a  voyage  of  fifty-three  days,  with 
all  the  birds  alive, — a  remarkable  result,  as  the  usual 
loss  at  sea  is  about  25  per  cent.  He  settled  in  the  valley 
of  the  San  Luis  Rey,  about  seven  miles  from  the  town  of 
Fallbrook,  north  of  San  Diego,  in  southern  California. 
The  clear,  dry  air,  the  excellent  water,  and  the  shelter 
afforded  by  the  Santa  Rosa  hills  furnished  suitable  con- 
ditions for  the  establishment  of  an  ostrich  farm.  The 
birds  took  kindly  to  their  adopted  home,  and  have 
thriven  well,  the  old  ones  maintaining  their  natural 
vigor,  and  the  American-born  being  at  two  years  un- 
usually fine,  both  in  size  and  quality  of  feathers.  The 
breeding  birds  are  kept  paired  in  corrals  of  an  acre  in 
extent.  Those  one  and  two  years  old  are  left  a  range  of 
some  thirty  acres  on  the  mesa,  while  the  young  chicks 
are  allowed  to  run  with  the  other  barnyard  fowls.    The 

47 


48  Field  Museum  op  Natural  History 

ostrich  is  now  perfectly  acclimatized  in  this  country, 
and  it  is  even  asserted  that  the  American  birds  are  finer 
and  larger  than  their  African  progenitors. 

Other  farms  soon  followed,  and  are  now  estab- 
lished near  Los  Angeles,  San  Diego,  and  San  Jose,  Cali- 
fornia; Hot  Springs,  Arkansas;  Jacksonville,  Florida; 
Phoenix,  Arizona,  also  in  Oklahoma  and  Texas.  Os- 
trich farming  has  developed  into  an  industry  of  great 
importance. 

The  scientist  is  gratified  at  the  domestication  of  the 
ostrich,  because  it  supplies  the  demands  of  the  feather 
trade  and  will  therefore  lessen  or  ultimately  stop  the 
reckless  slaughter  of  wild  ostriches  and,  let  us  hope, 
also  the  killing  of  song-birds  formerly  sought  for  their 
feathers.  It  will  enable  us,  further,  to  obtain  an  ac- 
curate account  of  the  bird's  life  history  and  habits  and 
to  render  it  justice  and  correct  the  numerous  errors  to 
which  the  ill-founded  fables  of  past  centuries  have  sub- 
jected it.  Until  recent  times  it  was  believed,  for  in- 
stance, that  the  ostrich  is  polygamous  and  mates  with 
from  two  to  five  or  more  females.  A.  Reichenow 
(1900)  is  the  first  who  observed  that  the  wild  cock  pairs 
only  with  a  single  hen,  and  I  am  inclined  to  assume  that 
he  is  right ;  for  it  has  been  found  that  the  birds  reared 
in  captivity  are  monogamous,  and  it  can  hardly  be  sup- 
posed that  the  ostrich,  perhaps  under  the  influence  of 
American  environment,  should  have  suddenly  repented 
and  changed  from  harem  habits  to  a  state  of  mono- 
gamy. Some  years  ago  F.  J.  Haskin,  after  studying  an 
ostrich  farm  near  Los  Angeles,  reported,  "The  ostrich 
is  abnormally  finicky  about  mating.  Some  birds  re- 
main determined  bachelors  all  their  lives,  and  every 
one  chooses  his  mate  only  with  great  delay  and  caution. 
Usually  it  takes  two  or  three  years  of  earnest  and  pa- 
tient courtship  on  the  part  of  the  hen  before  she  en- 
snares her  prey.  But  once  captured,  the  male  ostrich 
is  her  devoted  slave  for  life.     He  flutters  anxiously 


The  Domestication  of  the  Ostrich  49 

about  her  while  she  sits  on  the  family  eggs  and  takes 
up  an  unnecessarily  combatant  attitude,  one  deadly 
toe-nail  raised  for  fight,  whenever  another  bird  or  the 
keeper  ventures  within  ten  feet  of  her.  If  she  dies, 
moreover,  he  remains  a  melancholy  widower  to  the  end 
of  his  days.  When  one  of  the  males  was  widowed  as  a 
result  of  his  wife  getting  her  head  caught  in  the  fence, 
the  keeper  picked  out  the  finest  female  in  the  flock  and 
offered  her  as  a  substitute.  She  was  in  the  pen  just 
three  seconds  when  the  keeper  had  to  risk  his  life  to 
get  her  out.  As  it  was,  she  received  such  a  hard  kick 
that  she  nearly  died  and  had  to  be  removed  to  the  hos- 
pital pen.  The  hen  has  no  such  scruples  when  it  comes 
to  remarrying,  and  is  polite,  if  not  enthusiastic,  to 
every  suitor  introduced  to  her.  Once  in  a  long  while, 
also,  a  male  bird  is  found  who  is  not  so  sternly  mono- 
gamous. There  is  one  of  this  type  at  the  farm  who  has 
condescended  to  espouse  two  wives.  They  call  him 
'Brigham  Young'." 

Captivity  has  brought  about  a  remarkable  change 
in  the  attitude  of  the  old  birds  toward  their  young. 
Whereas  in  the  wild  state  they  are  good  and  tender 
parents,  they  apparently  do  not  recognize  the  young 
bred  at  the  farms  under  the  incubator  system.  They 
cherish  no  affection  for  their  offspring  which  has  thus 
not  been  hatched  or  raised  by  them,  and  their  impulse 
usually  is  to  kill  the  young  on  sight.  What  is  said  in  the 
book  of  Job  about  the  ostrich's  want  of  regard  for  its 
young  now  sounds  like  a  true  prophecy.  Pliny,  how- 
ever, if  he  could  come  back  to  life  and  would  visit  one 
of  our  ostrich  farms,  would  doubtless  offer  an  apology 
for  his  somewhat  hasty  verdict.  Civilization,  after 
all,  advances:  from  a  mercilessly  persecuted  and  tor- 
mented creature  we  have  transformed  the  ostrich  into 
a  happy  and  contented  bird  and  an  eminently  useful 
denizen  of  our  soil.  The  domestication  of  the  ostrich  is 
a  positive  contribution  to  the  progress  of  humanity  and 


50  Field  Museum  op  Natural  History 

humaneness,  and  may  be  designated  one  of  the  great 
achievements  of  modern  civilization  of  which  the  Afri- 
cander may  justly  be  proud  and  for  which  we  have 
every  reason  to  be  grateful  to  him. 

B.  Laufer. 


BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  REFERENCES 

Only  articles  which  might  prove  of  interest  to  the  general  reader 
are  listed  here. 

Caruthers,  D. — The  Arabian  Ostrich.     Ibis,  1922,  pp.  471-474. 

Douglas,  A. — Ostrich-farming  in  South  Africa.  Ibis,  1906, 
pp.  46-52. 

Dueroen,  J.  E. — The  Domesticated  Ostrich  in  South  Africa.  Re- 
port of  the  South  African  Association  for  the  Advancement 
of  Science,  Vol.  vi,  1909,  pp.  155-161. 

The  Plumages  of  the  Ostrich.  Smithsonian  Annual 
Report  for  1910,  pp.  561-571.    8  plates. 

Some  Results  of  Ostrich  Investigations.  Report  of  the 
Sixteenth  Annual  Meeting  of  the  South  African  Association 
for  the  Advancement  of  Science,  1918,  pp.  247-284. 

Duncan,  T.  C. — Ostrich  Farming  in  America.  Report  of  the 
Commissioner  of  Agriculture,  U.  S.  Department  of  Agricul- 
ture, 1888,  pp.  685-702. 

Pearson,  T.  G. — The  Ostrich  as  a  Protector  of  Wild  Birds.  The 
Craftsman,  Vol.  xxv,  1913-14,  pp.  470-476. 

Prater,  S.  H. — The  Arabian  Ostrich.  In:  A  Survey  of  the 
Fauna  of  Iraq.  Made  by  Members  of  the  Mesopotamia  Ex- 
peditionary Force  "D"  1915-19.    Bombay,  1923,  pp.  43-46. 

Schalow,  H. — Beitrage  zur  Oologie  der  recenten  Ratiten.  Jour- 
nal fur  Ornithologie,  1894,  pp.  1-28. 

Thornton,  R.  W. — The  Ostrich  Feather  Industry  in  South  Afri- 
ca. The  South  African  Journal  of  Science,  Pretoria, 
Vol.  XII,  1916,  pp.  272-279. 


